Warriors of the Lost
by StarvingLunatic
Summary: AU. KP mixed with Scryed. Middleton is the wasteland known as The Lost Grounds, where Alter users roam. Here, Shego the FireShell Bullet meets her match in Kim Possible, the top officer of Upperton's GJ police unit.
1. Chapter 1

We do not own these characters. Disney owns them. We also don't own this premise. It's based on S-cry-ed the anime.

Okay, three people put in on this fic for your viewing pleasure. There is one Starving Lunatic, one Mouserr2255, and one RavenStarfire. We're all stirring this one up and having fun with it. We hope that you enjoy.

------

"C'mon, Bets! Mother wants us to get this thing back before sun-up y'know…" Sheldon cracked a smirk at his sister's growl of frustration as they made their way through the catacomb. She was always the easiest mark he had; just mentioning their mother got her undivided attention. Of course, he didn't care a shit for the wrinkled old prune, but he wouldn't tell either of the Director females that. He was crazy, not stupid.

"Look, Sheldon, let's just get this over with…" snarled Elizabeth. The fact they'd be paid a king's ransom for this damned statue was the only thing keeping her from bitch-slapping him at the moment. They'd spent the better part of last year retrieving everything else in the trove it belonged to, and the finishing bonus from the collector would be more than enough for her to get away from her family. Besides, if she didn't get some time away from Sheldon soon, the next snake pit they stumbled across? She'd be an only child.

Sheldon held the flashlight steady as they crossed a small bridge over a huge chasm. He actually enjoyed the things he learned on the jaunts they took collecting artifacts for their family's agency, even if he was consistently paired with his younger sister. This trip had been no exception as they had learned much about the wonders to be found amongst the ruins. So much history had occurred there; he actually put some stock in the legends that told of powerful objects used to dominate the ancient world. After all, these were people who created a great civilization, which at the height of the most recent dynasty had covered a region larger than most European countries combined.

Betty did her best not to smirk as she watched Sheldon examining his notes. "Five minutes to find this chamber, brother, and then I'm taking the lead," she snorted derisively. She told him he needed to pay closer attention when they started, but as predicted, he ignored her and now they were waiting for him to decipher the intersection they were at. It was fairly blatant and she hoped he failed in sorting through his chicken-scratch notes. It meant she got to humiliate her annoying 'older' brother once again. The bonus she got for rescuing missions they'd nearly blown because of him did almost make up the months of nerve-fraying aggravation, though.

Almost.

Sheldon ignored her. Something had been nagging him about this last lost treasure; it was as if the damned thing was taunting him, daring him to bring it to light. Before he could get lost in the horrid state of his notes, something surreal caught his eye. A spectral image drifted into the shadows directly behind his sister. The look of its single red eye beckoned him. He closed his journal with snap and leapt past Betty in pursuit. Something seemed familiar about it, but he was certain he had never witnessed it before. He only knew he had to follow where it led.

Betty gaped as Sheldon flew by; he was never much of a runner, but he was rapidly leaving her behind. She quickly shook off the astonishment and gave chase. She hoped they could just get this over with the farther into the catacombs they traveled. The smell she was used to, but there was an undercurrent of tension that bore down on her, like a press atop her head. Each step deeper into the labyrinth only increased the pain in her skull. She was about ready to scream when she caught up with Sheldon, who was, unsurprisingly, ignoring her. She thought for a moment they were in some serious trouble because she was beginning to doubt her own eyes. She knew cave gasses were very dangerous, and they were prepared should they enter an area with a heavy animal population, but her nose told her the air was fine.

So, why was she seeing that iridescent glow around Sheldon? Why could she see a spider web of cracks lace through that glow? Shaking her head with her eyes closed, she hoped to clear her vision and drag them both out before they lost it completely. When she opened her eyes and looked at him again, she could see, well, she couldn't describe what she saw, having no frame of reference. But, if she were to put a name to it that felt right with her gut, she would call it 'weakness.' For that instant, she could see a representation of the weakness she had always assumed Sheldon had. The weakness she knew she could exploit if she needed to put him in his place. She just wasn't prepared to see a visual representation of it, nor did she have any clue as to what good the information could do her. It wasn't like she wanted to break her brother.

Yet…

Sheldon smiled wickedly as he followed the spectre across the threshold of a modest chamber near the deepest point of the catacombs. The silent wraith always kept a respectable distance from him, and he could tell even when his eyes weren't on the cyclopean spirit that its demon eye was fixed upon him. The more he thought about the wraith, the more familiar it seemed, but he knew rationally that he had never encountered the creature before. Stepping close to the towering presence he approached with daring tempered by caution, a trait he rarely exercised. Reaching out and attempting to lay a hand on the spectre proved futile; it evaporated just as his fingers would have grazed the armour-like casing that defined its torso. His initial disappointment was all but forgotten as his gaze fell upon the object of their search: An ornately carved stone sword. What the item was forged from, he could scarcely speculate, because it emanated a soft blue glow that was unmatched by any natural or artificial material he knew of. Forgetting the protective chants and sacred ritual that his notes insisted the mystical artifact required before it could be handled, Sheldon reached out and gripped the hilt.

He would live to regret that.

Betty shook herself out of the trance that seemed to have fallen over her momentarily. Something wasn't right with the situation. As she came to her senses and shook the disturbing vision from her mind's eye, she heard a horrid wailing scream that accompanied a flash of fiery blue and red light. Jumping into action, she tore down the corridor following the slowly fading torrent of light. Rounding the corner near the entrance of the room she sought, her sense of smell was overwhelmed by a stench she hoped she'd never encounter again. Clearing the portal to the chamber, her fears were confirmed, Sheldon lay on the ground, gripping his arm to his stomach, writhing in agony. She looked to the small dais and pedestal that decorated the room and saw the object of their quest, hanging from its pristine blue hilt were the remains of Sheldon's hand.

"Shit! Mom isn't going to be happy when she sees this mess, brother," Elizabeth sneered. Yeah, he'd already humiliated himself enough, but she felt he deserved at least one more jab. Moving quickly, she examined the stump of his arm. There was nothing she could do for his lost hand, so she shot him full of a tranquilizer and keyed their emergency transponder. While she waited for the medivac team to collect them, Betty went through the elaborate rituals: Prayers were said, special incense was burned, and a very rare sacred oil was poured over the pedestal, eventually rendering the mystic weapon safe for transport.

Sealed away as it was, the sword appeared nothing more than a thoroughly used and abused katana. She did wonder why this weapon was half a planet away from its likely creators in the foothills of Japan, but by the time she got the chance to check her notes the medivac team arrived and carted them out. As they finally returned to the muggy but fresh air of the tropical forest, she had put all of her curiosity aside and just hoped she would still get the usual bonus she received for completing her brothers' failed missions. It wasn't her fault the moron forgot the basic tenet of "Don't touch _anything_ until you know it won't kill you."

-----

Annabelle Director scowled furiously as she watched the short Asian man waddle into the conference room followed by his entourage in black. Master Sensei of the Yamanouchi Consortium was not one to make personal appearances, but she had insisted on settling this matter face to face. She could give less than shit about the money the old codger was doling out for them to retrieve the artifact. Her son had been maimed by the damned thing and she wasn't about to let that slide. "Welcome, Master Sensei, to WEE main offices. Before you begin, let me inform you that your down payment for this…incident has already been divvied up and signed over, so there will be no returning it. Also, I would like to know why you failed to mention the danger that came with this final artifact?" She wanted to know why not a single piece of information relevant to the sword's true power had been included in the briefing he had given them, and then she wanted to know just how far he would sail when she planted her boot on his backside.

Sensei held up a hand to forestall any hasty actions by his cadre of bodyguards. They were all very tense, and he didn't blame them. Worldwide Excavation and Extraction was not the world's foremost dealer in antiquities without good reason; their agents had to be masters of diplomacy, archeology and general combat just to survive. "My dear Lady, please, do you not think I would have given you this information if I had known it posed such a threat? You wound me."

He was, of course, lying through his teeth. His clan was at one point in history charged with stewardship of the Lotus Blade; however, those same ancestors packed it away for safety concerns, according to legend at least. It had been their most prized possession and would have remained as such had it not become fouled and its power corrupted. Or so the legend went. The Yamanouchi Consortium had taken an interest in recovering their lost heritage and heirlooms such as the Lotus Blade, so as Master of the clan and the official headman of the group, it was his task to determine the locale and condition of those precious treasures. He needed to verify the story surrounding the ancient weapon and from there decide what to do with it so he purposefully withheld the full story of the blades power in hopes that the truth would surface on its own. Apparently, there was some truth to the legend after all.

"Is that so, Sensei?" The timbre of her voice fell several degrees, taking the general feel of the room along for the ride. Things went from mild and almost amicable in light of the situation to arctic cold on the turn of a word. This word was the missing "Master," as she refused to acknowledge someone by such a title if they could not convincingly lie to her. "Would you care to explain this, then?" With a wave of her hand, a wall panel withdrew and from the shadows a solitary figure stepped forward. In his hands lay an official dossier from the Consortium. "This young man, Fukushima is it?" He nodded in reply. "Well, he has revealed to us a great number of things about your 'clan,' Sensei, including the fact that everyone knew the legend of this weapon and why it was locked away. Shall we start again, or should we just skip to the fun and turn our lawyers loose now?"

"Fine, Madame, if this is how you wish to play." He gave his men a small, nearly imperceptible nod. Had he been in lesser company, this action might have gone unnoticed; however, he was in the room with a world-renowned predator. Before his elite guard could pounce, the doors to the room flew open and a small army of combat armed troops stormed in. Swords and small arms were no match. Neither Annabelle nor Sensei paid the fight mind. After the carnage ended, Sensei conceded defeat with a respectful nod, respect he did not feel, but would show nonetheless. He was alone amongst the wolves now.

Sheldon looked towards the monitor as he watched his mother work; she could be a real demon when something or someone pissed her off. Usually that took the collective efforts of him and his sister and they regretted each and every encounter with her in that state. As this incident was not directed at him, he could sit back and enjoy her work. Before the old fool left, Sheldon knew his mother would have legal ownership of the Yamanouchi Consortium, which was part of his plan. He needed their resources if he was to crack the growing riddle of the sword that claimed his hand.

Once he had been fitted with his prosthetic hand, he made it clear to Annabelle: they had to keep the sword for themselves. Doing so required drastic action. While she prepared for that, he set the R&D division of WEE to work on examining the mystic weapon to understand the nature of its power. Nothing in his notes or the notes his sister had collected hinted at the real power the weapon contained. Betty knew there was more to it than had been disclosed, but insisted it had to be something trivial; she had very little faith in magic. He, on the other hand, understood the paradox of science and magic, and was beginning to fathom the depths of the ancient world.

Of course, he also had proof of this power on many levels now, not the least of which was the vacant end of his arm.

Over the course of the month it took for his mother to get Sensei to visit and discuss the matter in person, he had taken a keen interest in the research being conducted on the sword. The first week went without incident, but the second showed they were a long way from understanding the power the weapon possessed. Two of the lab techs fell ill; one proclaimed visions of a wasteland where all those who live changed into monsters and the other developed a hardened skin that glistened like an unearthly metal. Examining her proved futile, as this new skin of hers was impervious to all manner of probe from the standard needle jab to the more advanced laser drill.

While he was watching that particular employee endure a pounding from the guns of their security force who were testing the limits of her new power, Sheldon saw the face again. From the time he woke after losing his hand to this very day, he was plagued with visions of that evil face and its glaring red eye, but as time passed, he began to understand the face was tied to him, and the sword. That feeling made him curious, and he ordered the sword to be investigated with more intensity - which required its relocation. His mother concurred, and they relocated the sword, along with the entire lab, to their Middleton research facility. Along the way, several more people began manifesting strange powers. A scrawny intern got into a boxing match with one of the cargo transports - and at over a hundred tonnes of difference in weight, the outcome was anything but expected: The truck cratered. The boy looked bored with the whole affair.

Then the day arrived of the first real casualty of the sword: an intern working in the chamber with the sword glowed brilliantly blue for a moment, then exploded. That bit of news alarmed Annabelle, but her decades of experience told her it was likely to be repeated in some fashion before they understood what they were dealing with, so she allowed Sheldon to proceed with the research. She had the foresight however to add Elizabeth to the roster. Left to his own devices, she was certain Sheldon would try to grab the fool thing again, so she stuck Betty with the job of babysitting her brother once more.

Sheldon turned from the monitor once the display returned to normal business discussions. He was only interested when there would be bloodshed, and that point had already passed.

As his gaze fell across the object of his current obsession, Sheldon found himself face to face with the silent wraith once more.

"So, my mysterious friend, will you speak up for once or shall we enjoy a moment of silence together as we ponder this toy?"

Of course the wraith would not answer; it never did. But unlike previous times, it chose to remain visible and floated to his side, as if allying itself with him.

-----

Annabelle Director was growing more than a little impatient with her son. She had been apprised of the spate of fatalities and odd deformations of the staff working at their lab beneath the sprawling tri-city area. Since her son was refusing to take her calls, she opted for the direct approach. She knew he hated personal visits from either of the females in his family; she also knew that he was furious with her for assigning Elizabeth to the security detail attached to the lab. And she knew that he was showing signs of a far deeper imbalance than she originally guessed, but she was still the boss and she intended to make that point crystal clear. As long as she footed the bill, her children would respect her commands and smile while doing so.

Waiting was never a strong suit for her, so when Sheldon finally entered the room she was bordering on 'beat-you-to-shit' pissed. She might end up taking that route in the end, but for the moment, she chose to simply scowl and await his explanation. However lame it might be. Regardless of the merits of his excuse to continue, the research was being cancelled. Period. There had been too many freakish happenings, too many deaths.

To her surprise, he did not enter alone, she noted. An ethereal form drifted casually alongside him. It moved with the same purposeful presence he often took, but she could sense a similar weakness as well; they seemed torn from the same cloth, odd as that sounded to her ear. How could a 'ghost' be the same as her flesh and blood offspring? Oh well, it was of no concern. It was time to get to business; she had places to be and money to make. "I suppose you know why I am here, Sheldon?"

Sheldon took a seat at the far end of the conference table from his mother. He wanted so much to reach out and crack her head off the table; he could practically hear the impact. "Of course, mother. You're pissed that I haven't responded. We've made notable progress in the research, but as you have no doubt learned, there have been a few losses incurred. Are the bean counters already getting antsy?" He knew that with her, it would always come down to money. Well, it was time he changed that. He was too close to the answers he sought to let her or a bunch of idiots three states over dictate the terms of his work.

"A _few_ losses? A _FEW_ losses?" Annabelle exploded worse than any nuclear warhead. "A FEW? Sheldon, when I'm being told by the insurance company that they're on the verge of canceling our policy because there's been too many losses incurred for them to provide adequate compensation without making themselves bankrupt, _thatisMUCHmorethanjusta** FEW losses! **_This is a company known for sending people into places where death can come from a million gruesome sources. This is company that makes $12 billion in profits _per year!_ When we're about to make our insurance company file for Chapter 11 because they can't handle the costs of our company's losses, that's a huge red flag, Sheldon!" she paused for a very brief moment to draw a new breath and then continued to unleash her pure, unabashed fury on her son. "We've had Congressman on both sides of the party line just itching to open an official inquiry into our business practices for nearly 20 years. If the insurance company folds up, they'll have all the evidence they need. Do you want that to happen: Let everybody know what we've been doing? Just exactly how many people have died on the job here? Let the entire world know you and your sister have broken more than just a few international laws on your little jaunts? Have WEE shut down permanently and you, I, and Elizabeth all locked up in a Federal Penitentiary for the rest of our lives? If this news breaks, it could upend this city entirely, not to mention the whole world! The entire Middleton City Council, the Mayor of Middleton, all the Justices in this state INCLUDING the State Supreme Court Justices, and our entire State Legislature! And that's not even touching the tip of the iceberg of what your LITTLE FUCKUP could cost!ThePresident and his entire cabinet! The pentagon! The CIA! NSA! FBI! The Supreme Court of The United States! Fuck, Sheldon, this could bring down the UN! The Hague! The WTO! OPEC! **_EVERY LOCAL, NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL POLITICAL FIGURE ON THIS PLANET WHO SERVED IN THE PAST 20 YEARS WILL GO DOWN IN A PILE OF SHIT-LACED FLAMES IF THIS GETS OUT!"_**

She paused to collect her breath again and stood back up, adjusting her business suit. "Would you like knowing that was all your fault? That simply because you disobeyed a few safety restrictions _I directly ordered you to abide by_, the entire world could be thrown into complete chaos?"

Had he not known she was on the brink of shooting him in the head right then and there, Sheldon would not have swallowed his anger. He mentally smirked at the point she'd made in the lecture. He'd find out the secret of the sword, even if it meant raising the devil if he had to.

But, he bit his tongue and only asked her one thing. "Have you informed the directors yet?"

"They haven't been officially told as yet, son. I was giving you the chance to stand on your own for once and waiting for you to tell me the project was getting too dangerous. However, you seem obsessed with this foolishness, and when I return to Go City, this division will be shut down and filled in. Half a million yards of concrete should do nicely." Annabelle never did things by halves. The liability of leaving the facility empty was more expensive than backfilling it and forgetting it existed. If she had her way, which she usually did, that goddamned sword would be encased in 40 layers of lead before the fucking thing ended up the first thing cemented over. Sheldon was going to never see it again. "Now, get the fuck out of here and go tell your sister I want to talk to her. She's got a few things she's going to be answering for, as well."

Sheldon nodded, stomping out in search of his sister. He could have told his mother Betty was in the gym beating the pants off the best fighters she could find out of the security detail, but that was never as much fun. He would never understand why those guys, and the few girls that challenged her, would return time after time just to be dominated by her. Betty seemed to have acquired a loyal if somewhat masochistic following. Before his mind could wander too far, the red eye appeared in front of him. Now, it wasn't threatening. It was waiting. Waiting to willfully serve him. "Yes, my silent companion. It is almost time. Go to the plane and make yourself comfortable. Mother will be along shortly."

The guard watching the security monitor for the corridor scratched her head; she heard Sheldon talking, but there was no one else in the hall. She shrugged and chose to ignore it; the man was positively loony, but his family signed her paycheck, so she wasn't going to jeopardize that.

----

At twenty-thousand feet and three hundred miles per hour, Annabelle enjoyed the privacy she found in her transport jet. No matter where she was, when she was on the ground there were always people trying to get to her for one reason or another, usually for hostile intent. In her jet, she could relax; let her guard down for a brief moment in time. She was on her 3rd martini when she saw something that ran her blood to ice.

There, floating before her, was the ghost she'd seen Sheldon with earlier in the day. Its single, baleful red eye, searing itself into her mind…

A moment later, the plane tore itself apart, scattering wreckage over hundreds of miles of open land. Only the pilot was ever identified.

-----

"SHEL**_DON!"_**

Betty was outraged to the point she would gladly throttle Sheldon just as soon as she could catch him. That would have to wait until after she dealt with the original source of her outrage, his stupid fucking Chihuahua, Pepe. It had been a month since their mother had died, and things were just settling down when she'd walked into her room to find the flea-ridden mongrel taking a shit on her bed. It was no secret the dog hated her; hell, the damned thing didn't like anybody she hung around. But this was crossing the line. She never pissed or shit on the dog's quilted bed. Why the hell did the mutt think it was ok to do that to hers?

Sheldon was casually walking around the small tower upon which rested the sword that so occupied his thoughts these days. Betty had scarcely been surprised that he ignored the funeral held for their mother, but he continued to ignore her ranting. There were more pressing matters to attend. They were close, so close to cracking the riddle of the energy harnessed within the Lotus Blade. It had only cost him a few…thousand employees and what little was left of his sanity, but they were close. Once again his 'shadow' appeared, heralding, as it often did, great change.

Then Pepe raced into the chamber, followed closely by his enraged sister.

"Pepe! What has my mean little sister been doing to you this time? Is she picking on you again?"

Pepe just hiked his leg to piss on Betty's new boots. With a single arched brow, she looked down at the dog and drew back to give it the swift kick it deserved. He intervened before she could connect and though she hadn't been able to kick the dog like she'd wanted, it was rewarding enough hearing her brother's yelp of pain. He grabbed her by the shoulders to balance himself while he rubbed his aching shin and she squirmed away. "Get the hell off me, you one-handed freak! And tell your little fucking wiener dog to never take a shit on my bed again!"

"One-handed freak? I have two hands, dear sister!"

"No, you have one hand and a stump with a sheet metal sculpture attached to it, dipshit!"

"'Sheet metal sculpture?'" gasped Sheldon. "How dare you insult the creators who fashioned possibly the finest example of prosthetics work in the world! That's just mean! Isn't that right, Pep…Pepe?"

Neither of them had noticed Pepe had taken an interest in the sword; well, not until they heard the dog's pained yelp as Pepe, sniffing the blade, apparently drew too close and got his face zapped by the weapon, scorching the tip of his nose.

"Pepe! Get back here!" Sheldon commanded.

But the dog didn't listen. It took a swipe at the sword with his paw and it zapped him again, causing Betty to laugh out loud.

"PEPE! GET. OVER. HERE!" commanded Sheldon in a louder voice, punctuating by stomping his foot as hard as he could.

The dog again refused to obey. Betty kept up with her laughing, at least, until Pepe turned and fiercely mule-kicked the blade out of its pedestal. She and Sheldon silently watched the weapon sail through the air and impact the wall, neatly bridging two high power conduits.

There was a bright azure flash—

—and the world was cleaved in twain.

----

"C'mon, Kimmie-cub!" James Possible couldn't help but smile as his daughter, little 9-year old Kimberly Ann Possible, swung the mallet. There was a snort of disbelief from the carnie followed by a sharp _THWACK!_ which was followed by a loud _DING!_ The crowd cheered.

The carnie's jaw dropped. He shook his head in disbelief, and reluctantly handed over the double prize coupons he'd promised the girl if she could hit the bell using the biggest hammer most adult guys could barely lift. "Just…how in the world did you do that, little girl?" he inquired.

Little Kimmie beamed. "Anything's possible for a Possible!"

The crowd cheered again and began to line up. The carnie wasn't about to take any more bets, but he wasn't about to turn away customers, either. Especially when they didn't know how the game worked, unlike the little redhead's father, who seemed to know every intricate detail.

Michelle Possible burped behind her hand and Kim giggled as she put the Sunday bowl in the trash bin and trotted along after her husband and children. The Tweebs, the nickname Kim had given her 'twin dweeb' brothers, wanted to get in line for the show being put on by the super heroes being honored for the week. Team Go had earned the limelight once more. As the Possibles filtered into the stadium and found their seats, the Go Jet suddenly soared over everybody's heads and landed, causing many _oooh_s and _ahhs_. "That is impressive technology!" James remarked. "I wonder what they've done to it that allows them to fly it so close to us without the jet exhaust burning everybody. Maybe they—"

Michelle threw her hand over his mouth. "Dear, I'm sorry, but I think the boys are more interested with who's inside the plane at this point."

"Oh! Ron!" Over here!" Kim waved as she spotted her best friend, motioning him to and his family at the empty seats beside her. She and Ron had been fast friends since they met in school a few years back, so at events like this, both families pitched in for all the major shows. It beat having to deal with either of them wailing about not being able to sit next to each other while they were being scared thrilled or otherwise entertained. Just as the show started, Kim felt a distant rumble, something that vibrated the very stadium. She was used to such things from the times her father brought her to his work at the Middleton Space Center to watch a rocket launch, but this was a different type of vibration.

She turned to her father, scared. "Daddy! I think we should get out of here! Right now!"

"What? Why, Kimmie—" James stopped as he felt the vibrations. He stood up. "Boys? We're leaving."

"What? But Daaaad! They've barely start—"

"**_NOW!"_** roared their father to which the boys hastily obeyed, since it was extremely hard to get him pissed off like _that._

"Hey, what's goin' on? Why you guys leaving, Kim?" asked Ron.

Kim turned and beckoned frantically at his family to follow them. "Whoah—Did you see her eyes, dad?"

"Yes, and I think it'd be wise to catch up with them," said Mr. Stoppable. In seconds, they'd caught up to the Possibles.

Shego watched her Team Go brothers, disdain filling her as Hego started juggling a few dozen sports cars with one hand. There were better things to do with her time. Then she felt a faint rumbling through the soles of her shoes. "Weird…" The stage was supposed to be vibration-dampened in order to prevent anything from accidentally being catapulted into orbit by Hego jumping his fat ass all around the damn thing.

A deep, resonating bass note suddenly rang out over the city. The stadium lights died as the whole Tri-City power grid went along with it. Then a blindingly brilliant flash of blue light erupted from beyond the rim of the stadium – and all manners of hell descended upon Middleton.

The ground roared to life, shaking so violently the needle shattered on the Richter scale machine at the Middleton Science Museum. Incredible ribbons of energy tore through the city in erratic patterns, slicing buildings in two, punching holes in other ones, and utterly demolishing the rest. People screamed in terror as cracks ripped through the ground, tearing out giant holes across the city, including one on the south side of the stadium, sending scores of people into chasms of doom. Nobody could keep their balance as they tried to get out of the stadium alive. A few unlucky ones made it out, only for massive chunks of debris to flatten them where they stood. One poor soul caught a toilet to the face.

"EMERGENCY! LET'S GO, TEAM GO!" yelled Hego – and the superhero group sprung into action.

Or rather, they would have, had a gargantuan column of rock not shot out of the ground beneath them, catapulting them into the air along with the Go Jet. It also really didn't help things much when a few of the ribbons of energy caught Hego and the Wego twins in midair. Shego gasped in nauseous horror and Mego screamed as they watched the ribbons slice their brothers up in exactly the same way as a McHenry Laser Grid would.

Michelle clung to her daughter and Ron as they tried to follow behind James, The Stoppables, and the Tweebs. They watched in horror as a mountain seemed to shoot out of the ground in the center of the stadium, flinging people everywhere like they were all slingshot ammunition. _"KEEP RUNNING, KIDS! DON'T LOOK AT ANYTHING! JUST KEEP RUNNING!"_ she screamed and did again in terror as there was another brilliantly blinding flash of blue light, and everything in front of the three of them collapsed in a single, jarring instant. **_"JAMES!"_**

"**_DADDYYYY!"_** cried Kim, watching in horror with Ron as her father and brothers didn't even have time to throw their hands up to catch themselves before they plunged into the inky void alongside the Stoppables. The young children turned and grabbed Mrs. Possible, crying. Then Kim looked up –and saw the Go Jet hurtling down towards them. **_"LOOK OUT!"_** she cried, instinctively jumping in front of them.

Before Michelle could verify that those were, indeed, eight dark pink spheres glowing in a large square formation just in front of her daughter the Go Jet plummeted on top of them and exploded; the shockwave so close that it slammed her into the ground, and out of consciousness.

----

Elizabeth Director spit out the mouthful of blood threatening to choke her as she came to. The lab was utterly black, yet she was able to see…sort of. Her right eye burned, but it was also the one allowing her to sit up and take stock of where she was. She looked around the room and gawked at the devastation. How the hell had she just she survived that event?

Event…That was the only word that came to mind, and even it failed to cover the scope of what had happened. Some of the hardest metals and alloys known to science lay partially melted, or fractured like glass. The solid granite wall that had been 'ground zero' now was the consistency of tapioca. A rustling noise caught her attention, and the sound of a massive load shifting drew her gaze to her brother.

She could clearly make out his form amongst the rubble and debris; it was one of the few light sources she could make out, in fact. That thought struck her as exceptionally odd, so she blinked her eyes a few times and shook her head trying to clear her obviously impaired vision. But the shimmering iridescence remained and not only that, it expanded. A ribbon of light flowed upwards from the prone form of Sheldon and connected to a very solid version of the wraith she had occasionally witnessed hovering around him. She originally wrote off the disturbing visions of this ghost as stress induced hallucinations, but a figment of one's imagination couldn't hold up a massive support column like that. Betty focused again on her brother and began trying to make her way towards him, but as she got to her knees something startling happened, more so than the event had been in point of fact. She once again saw the 'weakness' in her brother, but this time she saw something else:

Twin flames, one of green and one of fire red— the perfect weapons against his … madness? She did not have time to ponder that thought, for soon it solidified in her mind that these two forces were required to beat Sheldon. The flames evaporated - yet, she felt she had not seen the last of them. She tried to move to her brother's side once more, all whilst the baleful glare of a solitary red eye kept her in focus.

The mute sentinel watched as she collapsed a few feet from his master. It knew the master would still require its help, so it continued holding up the roof that threatened to extinguish his life. It had waited for an eternity to serve. It would wait a while longer, if that was what was required. But now that it was free, and had a master to direct it. Never again would it be constrained. Its single wicked eye watched as the source of power continued to shed its might into the new world growing around them. Things were being created that would challenge it, and test its will right alongside its master's. New powers were being birthed, and they would reshape the face of life itself via force, or pleasure.

It preferred force.


	2. The Lost Grounds

We do not own these characters and we do not own this premise. 

This is still being brought to you by three authors: StarvingLunatic, Mouserr2255, and RavenStarfire. Thanks for reading.

2: The Lost Grounds

Ron relaxed into his seat on the plane. He was headed home. Well, actually, he was flying over his home at the moment. He had been born and somewhat raised in Middleton, which was now known mostly by the name "The Lost Grounds." It was a sister city of Upperton, which was where he was headed now, but it was still close to going home.

He guessed the saying "you can't go home again" might apply to him, even though he would rather not believe such a thing. He felt he could go home again, even though his home was buried under a giant pile of rocks, which was thanks to the total upheaval of Middleton all those years ago. He never really understood what happened that day, but he knew he'd never be able to erase it from his memory. There was so much tragedy in a single hour that he could hardly believe it was possible.

His house was under tons of earth and sediment. So why was he thinking he could go home again, especially when he wasn't even headed to the same city as the one he grew up in? Why would he even want to return to such a place? Simple, he was going to be reunited with his best friend.

He had not actually seen her in years, but still considered her his best friend. They hadn't contacted each other all this time, but he was certain they could pick up right where they left off. That was what being best friends was all about.

He cast his chocolate-coloured eyes out the window and looked down at his old stomping grounds. It was nothing like he remembered, mostly because he remembered when the ground was level, the roads were paved, the neighborhoods were neat, everyone had electricity, and the crime rate was low.

Middleton was nothing like that now.

It had reverted back to the lawless days of the Wild West, so far as he knew; well, at least, that was how the news reported it, anyways… The Lost Grounds was covered in native Alter-users who abused their powers and preyed on the weak. Middleton was stuck in the dark ages because of them, most people said. The Alter-users who acted like wild animals that refused to allow Upperton officials into the disheveled area to fix it up properly. The native Alters were so terrible that Upperton had to build a wall separating it from Middleton, and natives needed passports or working papers to get in. It was always the native Alter-users' fault.

Ron wasn't sure he believed that last bit. Maybe it wasn't _always_ the native Alter-users' fault, but he wouldn't put it past them if it was. Almost every day on the news, another brave GJ agent was shown traveling into the Lost Grounds to tame some fired up, hotheaded native Alter who was causing trouble and grief for the normal people of Middleton. So maybe the native Alters _were_ forcing the government to stay out of the land, thus forcing people to live without running water in some areas, without power in others, and having to live off the land to survive. But, he just couldn't believe any group of people could be so cruel.

There were reports that native Alters used the normal people of the Lost Grounds as serfs while they lived like feudal lords, but those rumors were never confirmed. A lot of myths surrounded the Lost Grounds, mainly because most people were loath to travel in there. The only people who set foot in The Lost Grounds aside from the natives were GJ agents; they only ones brave enough to go in there.

Ron's thoughts were distracted when he saw something coming toward the plane from below them. For a split second, he dismissed it as his overactive imagination, and then realized that he might not be imagining things. No way would his mind ever come up with something so scary. A black-haired woman blurred into view, then shot out of view, too fast for him to tell what was going on. Almost simultaneously, the plane lurched to the side, and he forgot all about the woman, becoming more worried about the "fasten seatbelt" sign flashing, and the pilot hastily trying to assure them that everything was going to be fine as the plane began to descend ahead of schedule.

--------------

Shego looked down at the plane she'd just used to boost her jump. Fuck it that she'd just made a dent in its wing of the plane; all she cared about was getting to the money and fighting. She silently cursed Drakken and that jalopy that he insisted on driving everywhere because as expected, it had broken down again, and she'd been left with getting to the battlegrounds on her own. Well, at least she was by herself. Made her less annoyed about the whole deal than if she'd been with Drakken. She didn't have to deal with any whining; well, except her opponents', that was.

She checked beneath her to make sure that she was coming to the spot she wanted to be. Yeah, she was close. She fixed her body for a fast descent. She made out the house below and sucked her teeth. _They get to live in a great house like that? While I'm stuck in a dinky little fucking shack? Oh, yeah. Life is sooo fair,_ she silently complained. _Oh, and they have a fucking pool, to top it off. I hate them even more now._

The pale woman could hardly believe her emerald eyes as she stared down at the ranch-style house. No one had ranch-style homes anymore in Middleton. They had half-a-ranch style home, or something to that effect. Everyone in Middleton lived in remade versions of homes that were standing before the upheaval, or they just made their own small homes. None of those came close to the houses that were there before the land turned inside out, yet there these motherfuckers were all livin' it up in a nice house with a freaking pool in a place where people were lucky if they even had some goddamn running water.

"Bastards…" Shego growled. She wished she could adjust herself in midair. Make sure she turned their roof into one big-ass skylight. Wreck a house they didn't deserve, just to piss the little fuckers off. Bastards like them didn't need a beautiful house with so much nice land in a place where both were almost unheard of. Unfortunately, she was going to have to make due with hitting their front yard. Well, at least she'd ruin their pristine lawn.

Her landing was just a few decibels below that of a bomb. Smoke and dust exploded into the air, covering her and her impact crater in a thick cloud. The house's owners, all five of the bastards, came rushing out of to see what the hell had just happened. They were greeted by a giant plume of smoke, dust, and dirt where their once prizewinning lawn had been.

"Ah, man! That grass just grew in!" Robby whined loudly.

"_Don't worry, boys. The lawn's the least of your troubles at the moment,"_ a haunting voice informed them from inside the dust cloud.

"What the …Who's there?"

A small breeze blew the cloud of smoke away, revealing Shego standing tall in the middle of her crater.

"Boo," she joked with a demonic smirk on her face.

"What the hell? Don't worry, fellas. It's just a woman," said Roland.

"The Fire-shell Bullet, to be exact," she corrected him. She wasn't "just a woman."

Her introduction shut the shitheads up. Shego grinned; the Fire-shell bullet was a rather infamous native Alter-user in Middleton. And they were so shocked… "I bet you can guess why I'm here?" She sneered as she cracked her knuckles. She'd been hired to go after these little punks – the Oh Boyz, as they figured to call themselves. They were native Alters, and they were causing trouble, using their powers to kidnap normal teenagers. She didn't speculate why, but the village that forked the money over to hire her believed they were using the teens as slaves.

"There's just one of you, doll, and four of them. So why don't you just leave now before I have the boys take you out?" Roland snickered.

"Oooh, big talk," Shego shot back. "You're the one in charge, I take it. Probably don't have any Alter powers, since you're talkin' 'bout siccing these puppies on me."

"Alright, boys, this dame's gettin' on my nerves. Take care of her, will ya'?" The boys silently obeyed Roland, starting towards Shego.

"Lemme warn you now, boys, whatever stories you've heard about me? They're probably true," the green-skinned woman informed them.

"Hah! You're all talk, bitch. I'll take you down and make you one of my little girls," Ryan snapped.

Shego smirked. She really wanted to see them try. She liked it when her opponents tested her skills. It always reaffirmed for her that she was the greatest Alter-user they'd ever see.

Ryan put out his hand, which began to glow with a rainbow colouring. Shego stayed put. She wanted to see what his power was, at least.

"Eternal knot!" he cried.

Patches of the remaining grass disappeared and ropes suddenly formed around Shego's arms and legs, growing taut and fastening her in place. The Oh Boyz laughed as the ropes covered her feet up to her ankles and wrapped around her wrists, chaining her to the dirt. She was trapped.

--------------

"_Attention, Grounds Justice Unit #002: There is a plane going down in the Lost Grounds. The pilot has stated he will be able to land it safely. Emergency units are en route. You are to seek the probable cause of the crash: a native Alter, female with black hair."_

"So, who the hell's gonna protect the plane, passengers, and emergency units while we're hunting for this female with black hair, who, may I add, could be, I don't know…anyone?" Josh wondered out loud.

"Doctor Director worries about that. You worry about our assignment only, Josh." Kim's even, almost cold tone of voice identified her clearly. Of course, they were all used to it. She had a habit of not putting emotion in her voice, not that it seemed she actually had any emotions to use…

"I'm driving!" Mego declared as he rushed to the vehicle that their unit always used.

"Says who? No one's touchin' my car. Get away from my car, you freaking dip!" Bonnie rambled as she grabbed Mego by the shoulder and threw him carelessly behind her. He slammed onto the ground rump-first, pouting over the disrespect he'd just received.

"I can drive," Mego argued.

"Go drive your own car! You have your own car, don't you?" Bonnie barked at the purple-skinned annoyance. One day, she was just going to put him out of her misery. She was sick of him always trying to touch her vehicle. Why did he have to be assigned to their team anyway?

"She's right, Mego. Take your car and scout ahead for the suspect. Call in if you find her," Kim ordered.

"Roger that," Mego replied, saluting his superior. He picked himself off of the floor and dashed over to his little sports car. He required speed in order to scout out ahead of his teammates, which was his usual job.

"Bonnie, let's get moving," Kim commanded.

"All right, all right! Stop being so pushy! Why do you always have to be so pushy, Kim? Jeez! You're always so pushy!" Bonnie replied in a huffy tone.

"Y'know, you should show a bit more respect. She is our team leader," Josh pointed out to her.

"Whatever. You guys know I always shoot my mouth off too fast, anyways, right? Yeah, you do. So…Whatever. Where the hell's the rest of our unit, if we're supposed to be getting out of here? Huh? Where are they? Huh?" Bonnie inquired as she buckled into the driver's side seat of their specially outfitted van, made for transporting their team as quickly as possible to wherever they needed to be. It housed mobile computers, weapons, and other things that the team might need while they were out battling rogue Alter-users. Yeah, their job was to deal with rogue Alters. GJ, which was the common moniker for Grounds Justice, which itself was shortened from Lost Grounds Task Force and its agents were Alter-users in charge of arresting criminal Alter-users. Their work was dangerous, especially since they often had to go into the lawless Lost Grounds where native Alters were acting up, or where city Alter-users fled believing they had avoided being captured. GJ agents had no problems going into the Lost Grounds; hell, many of them were from the Lost Grounds.

"Seriously, where the hell is the rest of our team, huh? They should be here by now. Dammit, where the hell are they already?" Bonnie wondered out loud.

"Leave them," Kim ordered Bonnie.

The driver shrugged; it wouldn't be the first time that she'd left behind their two teammates who were always late. She had no problem with leaving Yori. Yori always caught up to them, thanks to her Alter power. Tara, on the other hand, when she was left, she was left. The blonde had the bad habit of never being where she was supposed to be; the only reason that she kept her job was because it was good to know where an Alter-user was for the most part, and what they were doing with their life.

"Buckled up? Everybody buckled up? You sure? All right. Let's roll!" Bonnie cheered, peeling out at a speed that jets would be envious of. She nearly crashed through the garage gate again. Damn things never opened fast enough for her. Her passengers all knew it was best to buckle up.

--------------

"I call first dibs on this one!" Robby declared. The Oh Boyz were sizing up Shego, who was currently bound by Ryan's Alter power. The ropes that he had her in were stronger than any metal that existed, so they were beyond certain they had her right where they wanted her. The boys appeared so smug since they had her chained to the ground and immobile.

"I get her first! I'm the one holding her to the ground!" Ryan argued.

"Since when is that the way things work?" countered Nicky-Nick.

"Seriously," Dexter agreed.

"I'm the one holding her! She's mine! You guys can have fun with one of the other girls while I have her!" stated Ryan, as if his word was law.

"Boys, boys, boys…Let me settle this one," Roland interjected.

"You're not having her, Roland. You already have more girls than all of us," Robby said.

"Yeah, and you never even do anything," added Ryan.

"Let me see if I got this straight: when you kidnap these girls from the village, you make 'em your sex-slaves?" Shego inquired, just to understand what they thought they were doing with her, and what they had probably done with the other girls. They'd kidnapped twelve girls from that village, and they had the nerve to be using them for sex? Talk about bad decisions. Especially now that she was there to rectify them.

"They're our little kittens. Just like you're going to be our bitch with them," Nicky-Nick cracked.

"Complete with collar and leash," added Dexter, putting his hand out.

"As much as I might like to be your whore, I think I'll pass for today," Shego shot back. Something told her that she didn't want to find out what Dexter's power was. He was about to fit her with a collar that would have her dazed and out of it, so she'd be a 'good little kitten' for them. Not the type of party she generally liked to attend. Besides, if she was busy being a mindless sex slave for them, how the hell was she going to collect her payment for rescuing those girls? "Now, let me show you dicks how you really use an Alter power."

With that, Shego's whole body glowed with the rainbow colour. The boys were a little shocked because it was rare for an Alter-user to have her whole body covered by the rainbow colours. Pieces of their home disappeared as she charged her Alter power up. Above her right eye, a jade bar appeared and surrounded her eye like a sharp, emerald "C." Her right arm and shoulder was encased in armour of onyx and emerald. Five spikes sprouted from her left shoulder blade, giving the appearance of a fan at her back. Her hand was covered in complete black, and she had small claws now.

"Big whoop. You've got one of those close-range Alter powers," Nicky-Nick huffed.

The pale woman smirked demonically. "I'd start running if I were you, guys. I didn't exactly like that whole 'little kitten' comment."

"Whatever. Ryan, you've got her, right?" Dexter asked.

"Yeah, I got her. Throw the collar on this kitten," Ryan assured him in a confident tone. No one had ever escaped his Alter.

"You took too long. Flaming first BULLET!" Shego yelled, and one of the spikes on her back vanished. Her entire arm seemed to catch fire and burn bright green. She began to move forward, fast, tugging on her chains, pushing Ryan's hold on his powers to the limits as he grunted.

"Ryan, what's wrong?" Robby asked as he noticed Ryan visibly straining, making a tighter fist to hold his powers together.

"She's gonna break through!" warned Ryan, but he spoke too late. He was hurled backwards as Shego burst from his bonds and rocketed straight at Dexter, not even giving the startled Oh Boy a chance to gasp before she crushed her fist on his chin so hard everyone had to brace themselves against the shockwave, and sent him flying several yards away from them. He finally stopped, but only because his back slammed into a large boulder blocking his flight path. Dexter crumpled to the ground, unconscious.

The boulder followed suit a second later, crumbling into specks of gravel.

Dexter was just lucky to be alive. Blood poured down his face, but his comrades didn't see. They were all too busy gaping at Shego.

"Who's next?" she asked with a dangerous smirk, like a tiger who had just found the perfect prey.

--------------

Mego and his little all-terrain hotrod practically flew over a pile of rocks as he made it into the Lost Grounds in record time. He liked beating his own records. He took a sharp turn, nearly flipping his tiny car over a small cliff, but he hardly seemed to notice how rocky and hilly the Lost Grounds was. Despite his speed, he was able to see the plane above him, and it did seem to be having a controlled landing. The wing was damaged to the point where they would not be able to make it to the airport, but everything else appeared all right. From what Mego could see, the emergency units had not arrived, but he had not expected them to make it there before he did. No one made it to the scene before him.

Unless Bonnie was driving.

He continued on until the plane was out of sight. He'd gone by so quickly the passengers failed to notice him as they stared out of their windows with the hope of having an idea of what the hell was going on. The magenta-haired GJ scout was trying to find a clue if the suspected Alter-user was still in the area. He had equipment in his car to detect the odd frequency of Alter users that would pop up in the area if there were any around showing off their powers.

However, the massive cloud of dust and smoke in the distance told him all he needed to know. After all, whoever could kick up that amount of dust could easily put a dent in the wing of plane.

"Hey, guys, I think I found who you're looking for," Mego reported into his communication device.

"_Send the coordinates,"_ Kim ordered in her methodic, nearly ice-cold voice.

"Send the coordinates…" Mego mocked, making damn sure he wasn't speaking into his headset mic. He reported where the disturbance was, then grumbled about how Kim never thanked him for all of the work he put in.

Bonnie floored the pedal even further to the ground once she had the coordinates. She blazed by the plane, which was now landing, and there still were no emergency units to speak of. Bonnie couldn't understand why the units were always so slow. Why the hell weren't they there yet? Jeezus, they were slow. How could they stand being so damn slow? But, then again, most things were slow to her. Painfully slow, at that.

The speed freak pulled up to a cliff, which she would've have no problem driving over, had they not reached their destination. She looked out and saw native Alters battling in a very nice yard by a very nice house, even though the house seemed to be missing a few sections and the yard did have a gigantic crater in it. The house was wasted out in the middle of nowhere…although all of Middleton was the middle of nowhere.

"_Native Alters, halt your illegal actives and surrender now!"_ Josh ordered the fighting group over a loudspeaker.

The Oh Boyz and Shego turned their attention to source of the sound and noticed the GJ vehicle. They halted their fight, which was more like a slaughter of the Oh Boyz for Shego than a fight. Shego had already knocked out three of them and was about to make her move on the remaining two, which included Roland.

"Oh, no! GJ!" Nicky-Nick shouted.

"Oh, great, just what I need…" grumbled Shego.

Josh was not fazed. _"I repeat: native Alters, halt your illegal actives and surrender now!"_

"Surrender this!" Shego replied, flipping him off with her Alter-covered hand.

"To hell with this," Roland declared, turning and running off. With luck, the GJ agents would be too busy with the Alter-users to notice.

"_Halt!"_ Josh called through the megaphone to the fleeing ebony-haired male.

"I've got him," Yori stood up from her seat. As expected, she'd caught up with the group and, luckily, had Tara with her. The ninjitsu expert put her hands together to form a triangle. A rainbow web materialized between her fingers, and she vanished from the van, reappearing in front of Roland, causing him to yelp in surprise. He fell to the grounds while trying to turn around to flee in the other direction.

"I do believe my colleague ordered your immediate surrender," Yori spoke to all of the natives, and not just Roland.

"To hell with you!" snapped Shego.

"I'm not goin' down now! Screw all you guys!" Nicky-Nick proclaimed, turning to flee the scene like his leader had just tried and failed to do.

"They do not plan on surrendering. Should I engage?" Yori inquired into the headset.

"Arrest the one fleeing," Kim commanded from her seat still in the van. From her expression and body language, an onlooker might assume that she was having tea rather than commanding an assault unit. She looked bored and was sitting straight up in her seat, her legs crossed at the knee.

"Yes, ma'am," answered Yori.

"I guess I'm up!" Tara giggled as she watched the guy running off. She looked so cheerful and eager to go after him.

"I could just hit him with the car. Can I just hit him with the car, ohpleaseohpleaseohplease?" Bonnie suggested.

Kim kept her stone face. "Do that, Bonnie."

"Aw!" Tara pouted, plopping back into her seat.

Bonnie, on the other hand, grinned like a shark, put the van in gear, and peeled off after Nicky-Nick, pushing the vehicle to the limit. Nicky-Nick never knew what hit him. The chocolate-eyed female did not intend to kill him, and she hadn't, but she did enjoy running him over; her job was so fulfilling. He was lucky to have been covered by some of his Alter, though; she would have seriously injured him rather than just knocking him unconscious if he had not been using his Alter. Not that Bonnie cared either way.

"Hey, how about I hit the other one while I'm at it. Ooh! Lemme hit the other one, too!" Bonnie offered, since Kim seemed to be in a giving mood.

Kim changed not a single facial muscle. "Knock yourself out." It would subdue the suspected Alter that might have caused the damage to the plane, and she had no time or sympathy for a person who would so recklessly put that many people's lives in danger.

Bonnie smiled again as she spun the van around and whipped it in Shego's direction. The pale woman did not move as she watched the van rocketing toward her. She rubbed the knuckles on her armour-coated hand and smirked.

"Blazing second BULLET!" Shego called, and the second spike on her back faded away. A grass-green flame ignited on her whole shield-covered arm and a burst of energy blasted out behind her, hurling her dead-on the speeding van.

"You'rekiddingme.You'rekiddingme.You'refuckingkiddingme.Thegoddamnstupidnativewantstoplaychickenwithme?HAH!" Bonnie scoffed. She practically crushed the pedal through the floor to go faster; if she had enough space, she would've gone past Mach 1. Shego continued to come at her, and the two collided.

The van lost.

Severely.

The shockwave that assisted Shego's fist cracked the front of the vehicle, broke the windshield, and crushed the van back into the rock face of the mountainous area, all whilst the agents inside were knocked around like bowling pins.

"My car! That native bitch! I'll kill her. I'll kill her! I'LL FUCKING KILL HER, THAT STUPID BITCH!" Bonnie grumbled, trying to fix herself in her seat. She couldn't believe some Alter had wrecked her vehicle. It was supposed to be stronger than a tank. It was supposed to be indestructible. How could some bitch like this do that?

"Josh, are you all right?" Kim inquired while righting herself. Her damned voice never changed. She was a stone, even when crushed into a rock wall.

"I'm fine," confirmed Josh, pushing himself from the side of the van.

"Tara?"

"I'm good." The blonde girl brushed some debris out of her hair.

"I'm gonna beat the hell out of her. I'm gonna beat the fucking hell out of her. Nobody destroys my car and gets the fuck away with it! Nobody!" Bonnie rambled while attempting to open her door to knock Shego's block off. Nobody, but nobody hurt her car.

"I'll go," Kim stated.

"What? No! I'll go! She's gonna get the shit beat out of her! Lemme go!" Bonnie asked.

"Yeah, Kim, you don't need to go. Let Bonnie handle that native Alter," Josh argued.

Kim stayed silent and simply kicking the back doors of the van open. Stepping out, she locked her gaze on the green-skinned native Alter.

"She's gonna get it," Josh whispered to Tara, who nodded in complete agreement. They were referring to the native Alter.

Shego frowned as the olive-eyed GJ agent stood before her as if she was made of steel in her obsessively neat indigo uniform. Too bad the little girl didn't know how easily she could go through steel, Shego smirked.

"You're under arrest," Kim stated in an even tone.

Shego matched the tone almost perfectly. "Suck my left tit."

"You're no match for me, native," the redhead informed the native Alter.

"What-the-hell-ever. I haven't met a person yet that could stop my fire-shell bullets," the green-skinned woman confidently retorted.

"Surrender now," Kim commanded.

Shego made a fist; obviously, the little redheaded GJ agent wanted her skinny ass beat. She had no problem with obliging. In fact, she would have to do just that to make it back home. One false move and GJ would be putting the cuffs on her. _To hell with that_.

"How many do you think she'll use?" Tara asked Josh.

"Probably four," Josh answered.

"Wow, that's it?" the blonde said, amazed.

Shego aimed her fist at Kim in a threatening manner. The redhead stood calmly as the native Alter's third spike disappeared and Shego charged her with an arm seared in green flame.

Shego smirked. She was going to knock the GJ agent's head off with her third shell bullet; the bitch hadn't even called up her Alter yet. Kim stood with her arms folded across her chest, looking terribly bored as Shego blazed at her. The pale woman cocked her fist back to throw another devastating punch, only to have her knuckles slam into an invisible force-field barely a millimeter from Kim's nose. The resistance caused the shockwave that normally amplified her punch's ferocity to recoil and all the energy she'd just released came ricocheting right back at her, knocking her backwards a few yards.

"What the hell?" the moss-hued native Alter gasped.

"You native Alters are all brute force. Your Alter will not defeat mine," Kim stated as if she were reporting the weather.

"What Alter?" Shego asked herself as she stared at her opponent, and then she noticed it. There were four small dark pink spheres floating in front of Kim, forming a square.

The redhead lowered her gaze. "Surrender. Now."

"If I didn't surrender before, what makes you think I'll surrender now? Are you fucking stupid, or what?" Shego fired back.

Kim did not seem to find that funny; she frowned a bit. The emerald-eyed female was not deterred, and merely spent her next shell bullet, only to have the same result as before. Shego glared. Repelled twice by an aegis she hadn't even noticed until it was too late. She only had one more shell bullet left, and if they weren't cracking that shield, there was no way regular plasma was going to get through, even if her arm remained covered in armour.

"Are you done yet?" Kim inquired.

"Fuck no. Get ready for my next attack. It's going to be a killer. Solar storm LAST _BULLET!"_

Shego's arm ignited in an impressive blaze of green glory, the last spike on her shoulder disappeared, and she blasted toward Kim once again. The redhead remained standing with her arms across her chest as her foe collided with her shield again. Shego snarled like a rabid dog as she tried to force her way through the powerful force-field. Motherfucking thing did not want to budge at all. Shego was determined to go through that defense. Nothing had ever stopped her shell bullets. _Nothing._ She was certainly not going to allow some GJ bitch to get the better of her.

"Give it up, native."

"Fuck you!"

"Stop acting so foolish. Nothing breaks through my Alter."

"I'll break through, and then I'll break that pretty face of yours!"

Kim frowned. Such a wasted effort this one put forth. Most people would've run after the first time that they saw their Alter was useless against Kim; it was what they usually did. Shego had to be different and wanted to keep pushing, even when the outcome was already decided in Kim's opinion. She was not sure which was more foolish, running, or continuing to try even if she knew she wouldn't prevail in the end.

Shego broke out into a sweat as she continued to shove at the shield. Sparks began flying as she clawed and scratched like a cat - and then she was finally blown backwards from all the pent-up energy, exactly like how she'd sent Dexter flying minutes ago. She landed on her back, yards away from Kim.

"Are you done now, native?"

Shego scowled. She could not believe that it was going to end with her on her back. She was going to be arrested by those GJ bastards and possibly shipped off to Go City, as she heard was where captured Alters were taken. She also couldn't believe she was taken down by a slender redhead who looked like she should be a cheerleader and not a GJ agent.

And then, Shego heard her saving grace.

The green-skinned woman looked to her left as she heard the distinct sound of Drakken's car engine. Seeing the dust being kicked up by his car, she sprang to her feet. He sped over to the scene and she could only hope that he kept driving; he had a habit of passing where they needed to be, and she wanted him to continue that.

"Next time I'll kick your ass, Princess," Shego informed Kim and then she grabbed onto the door of Drakken's jeep as he zoomed by.

"What the—" Kim frowned as the jeep disappeared from sight in a matter of seconds. "Yori. Chase them," she ordered.

"I can't go after what I cannot see," replied Yori.

Of course, the team leader knew that, considering she knew her whole team's powers as well as she knew her own. "Bonnie."

"Let's be serious. I couldn't go after a rock in this thing. Do you think I can go after her in this? Do you really think that, huh?" Bonnie pointed out, standing next to her poor van. That native bitch ruined her precious work vehicle. She was going to kill that pasty green bitch the next time she saw her.

Kim sighed under her breath. She could not believe that pale native Alter was getting away. She stared off in the direction that Shego fled with scowl on her face and Josh strolled over to her.

"Don't worry, Kim. It wasn't your fault," Josh pointed out.

"Yeah, it's not your fault," concurred Tara. It did not look like their words were getting through to their team leader.

"Cuff these guys and go to that house. Make sure its occupants were not injured by their reckless behavior," Kim ordered.

"The house?" Roland echoed. Oh, that was going to be a pickle to explain, considering the fact that since Dexter was knocked out, his Alter had undoubtedly worn off. The twenty teens they had been keeping as slaves were going to be discovered and the worse part was that while Dexter's powers allowed him to control the kids, they were aware of what was going on.

Oh, he and the Oh Boyz were in some trouble.

--------------

"Shego, what are you doing?" Drakken hollered in surprise when he noticed his green-skinned partner hanging onto the side of the car.

"Think you could stop for a moment?" Shego snapped. Only an idiot like Drakken would notice her almost a minute after she'd grabbed the car, and then wouldn't stop to let her in, but rather ask moronic questions.

"Oh. Right," the cerulean male commented, halting the jeep. Shego climbed in and took her place in the passenger seat.

"Shit…" she muttered.

"What happened? Where are the kids?" he asked. Her mission had been to retrieve the twenty stolen teens and yet there she was, empty-handed.

Shego growled. "Shit happened. GJ showed up."

"GJ?" he practically shouted. They were lucky she got away.

"Yeah, GJ. They ruined my payday. Damn them!" she cursed in a low voice. She was going to have a lot of explaining to do now. Then again, she always had explaining to do, but it was so much easier when she had money.


	3. Home, sweet home

We don't own these characters and we don't own this premise.

Is this story still brought to you by the same three authors? You bet your sweet ass it is.

3: Home, sweet home

"Fucking GJ…" Shego hissed in anger.

"Hey, isn't that—no, it can't be," said Drakken.

"Who?" Shego asked; she would actually prefer Drakken just focus on driving rather than seeing things. And then she spotted the car. "Mego?" she said when she caught sight of the driver.

"Hey, does he work for GJ now?" the scientist asked.

Shego looked down and didn't answer. She hated to admit it, but Drakken was right; her brother worked for GJ. She'd prefer not to be reminded of that, though.

She had never trusted GJ from the first moment they marched into the Lost Grounds, making all sorts of promises that too many stupid people in her opinion gave into. Her brother was at the top of the list when it came to stupid people believing in that GJ had to say when they came into Middleton. They were looking for Alter-users and rounding them up by the truck full with talk of steady work, arranged housing, and even respect. Such things sounded great to the ears of people who didn't ask for their powers or the hate and fear that came long with those powers. And then, of course, there was the vow of learning how to use those Alter powers as best they could. Fucking idiots jumped at that without even asking what the fuck GJ was and, yes, her dumbass brother was at the front of the line.

Mego tried to convince her to go with him when he signed up for GJ, hoping to learn how to use his Alter power. She had turned her back to him and began walking into the vast unknown that was Middleton. As she departed, she informed her moronic brother that she mastered her meteor powers on her own, so she would do the same with her Alter powers. She didn't need anybody's fucking help. Those were her last words to her brother. She saw him every now and then, but they never spoke and he wisely never chased after her.

"Soo…What? What do we do now?" asked Drakken. He was not sure what she might want to do because they saw her brother.

Shego looked up. "…Just…just take me home, Drak. Joss is probably worrying the fuck out of her head about me by now, anyways..."

----------------

Drakken halted his car by a big tree not too far from a small home. Shego hopped out and started toward the house. She noticed that Drakken was following her, which she expected. They entered the tiny house; it only had three rooms and the biggest one was only fourteen feet by fourteen feet. She silently closed the door and then grabbed Drakken before he could do anything stupid.

"Be _really quiet_," she whispered harshly.

"I'm always quiet," he insisted in a semi-loud tone.

"Shego? Mister Drakken?" called a small voice.

"Damn it, Drakken! I told you to be quiet!" Shego hissed.

"I was quiet!" he defended himself.

Shego turned her emerald gaze to the corner of the main room of the house. She watched as her roommate sat up from the thin straw mattress that was the best bed she'd ever slept on. She frowned. A scolding was coming her way, unless she acted fast. "Joss, go back to sleep."

"Shego, where have you been?" Joss rubbed her eyes as she climbed to her feet and trotted over to the two adults.

"I was just out."

"Fightin' again?"

The raven-haired female did not respond. She didn't like lying to Joss. Hell, Joss was pretty the only person she was ever honest with, for the most part. Joss worried about her when she went out fighting, so she tended to sneak away to go battle. She did not want to stress the little girl out; the kid was only twelve. She didn't need that.

"It could've been worse," Drakken commented.

"How so?" demanded Joss, her ears perked by Drakken's offhand remark.

"Why can't you just keep your big mouth shut?" Shego snapped.

"What? I didn't say anything!"

Shego sighed. The dolt never understood she was trying to save Joss from knowing what she did in her spare time. _Such a fucking idiot…_

"What happened?" Joss demanded once again.

"Nothing happened."

Joss looked at Drakken. "Mister Drakken, what happened?"

Shego glared at him. Joss, in turn, looked at the tall man in the way a 12-year old always makes one feel horrifyingly guilty. Drakken bit his lip. He was always in the middle of things! "Oh, Hey! Look at the time…" He glanced at his naked wrist, slowly attempting to inch out the door.

"Yeah, you'd better get out!" yelled Shego

"No, Mister Drakken! Tell me what happened!" Joss whined.

"Wha…Wha…But…" Drakken whimpered. Why did he deal with these two scary females? Why did he always make the mistake of going in the house after he and Shego went out? He was supposed to be a genius, yet he continuously made the same mistakes over and over again.

"Tell me!" Joss commanded.

"Drakken, you'd better not…" Shego growled.

"I already know y'all been out there fightin'. What have I told you 'bout that, Shego? You shouldn't be fightin'. There's plenty to do around here! Good, honest work!" Joss huffed.

"This is good honest work."

"No it ain't! You actin' like a brute, Shego! That ain't never good!" the girl stated in a firm tone.

"Keeps food in your mouth, don't it?" Shego countered. "Speaking of food , you make dinner, kid?"

"In the kitchen. But, don't you go changin' the subject! You know you ain't doin' good work, and it don't matter what it does. It ain't right!"

"A lot of things ain't right, kid," the pale woman pointed out, making fun of her little roommate with the use of the word "ain't."

"You're better than this!" Joss argued.

"Obviously, I'm not. You know how I am, kid. Don't try to put me on a high pedestal or anything. I fight. That's it," Shego declared in somewhat angry pride.

The emerald-eyed female was a fighter, a brawler for the most part. Yeah, she knew all sorts of martial arts, but for a long while, she had just been into power hits because of her Alter powers. She went into battles looking to overpower her opponents rather than finesse her way around them or being defensive. She wished Joss would stop making such a fuss about things.

"Um…can I have something to eat? All that talk of GJ on the way over made me hungry." Drakken commented.

"_GJ?"_ Joss hollered loud enough for their neighbors to hear, and their neighbors lived about a half a mile away.

"_Drakken!"_ Shego snarled, igniting the green plasma energy in her hands, a talent that she'd had long before she became an Alter-user.

"What did I do?" the scientist cowered and covered his head with his hands. Oh, why did he hang out with two frightening females? Why?

"I'm gonna kill you!" Shego declared, but just as she was about to plasma-blast him all the way to Go City, Joss grabbed her.

"Don't try to change the subject!" The younger female kept a firm grip on Shego's arm, preventing her from slaying the scientist in their company.

"Stop saving him!"

"What happened with GJ? Did you almost get arrested?" Joss inquired.

"Nothing happened," Shego insisted.

"Something happened. You almost got arrested because of all that fighting you do? Is it that you want? To get locked up? You know the penalties for Alters that break the law!" said the twelve-year-old, concern flowing in her voice.

"Nothing happened, Joss."

"Shego, if you get arrested…We'd both be alone. I wouldn't know what happened to you…" Joss muttered sorrowfully, looking down.

"Joss…" Shego sighed, powering down her hands.

Drakken sighed. Joss was like his undeclared angel, because every time he managed to anger Shego to the point where he knew violence was coming his way, Joss stepped in and halted the raven-haired woman from doing him any damage.

Shego kneeled down at Joss. The girl was close to tears. The kid worried way too much in Shego's opinion. She knew why Joss was so touchy, but the girl needed to have more faith in her. "Joss, you know I'm never going to leave you, kid," the older woman stated, pulling her into a short hug to be reassuring.

The preteen sniffled. "You could get arrested if you keep on fighting. You should just do honest work and GJ wouldn't be able to bother you!"

"Kid, I'm not going to get arrested. No one can beat me, you know that." Shego made a fist to emphasize her strength.

"There's only one of you. And GJ's a whole organization." the child pointed out.

"C'mon, Joss… You worry too much, kid. Now, where's this food you were going on about?" the pale woman inquired.

"I told you! It's in the kitchen."

"All right. I'm eating. You go back to sleep. I'm sure you put in a good day of honest work." Shego tried to smile, but only got halfway.

"Okay. Mister Drakken, you can have some food too," Joss informed him. She always fed Drakken because she knew he lived alone, and she was willing to bet he could not cook to save his life.

Shego and Drakken stepped away into the other room while Joss returned to the corner of the main room. There was a closet at the back of the room and she pulled out a pillow along with a blanket. She placed both on the floor and then unfolded the other thin mattress they kept in the closet. She prepared the bed next to hers and then lay down in her own bed.

The two adults roamed the kitchen, eating dinner, which wasn't much. It was a light stew, but it was a good meal as far as anyone in the Lost Grounds would be concerned. In a place where everything from meat to vegetables to spices were rare, they were thankful for almost anything to eat. The pair had simple, thin sandwiches with the stew to help fill them up, all made by Joss. They drank water because juice, like everything else, was hard to come across.

The little house had running water thanks to the blue genius; it seemed the loudmouth was good for something other than driving past the places where Shego was supposed to fight someone. He was also the one who put in the wiring around the place, which explained why the ladies tended to get shocked every now and then when they went to flip a switch. Shego supposed that it was all right as long as Joss was not electrocuted at some point; Shego herself could take a massive shock to her system and it would only piss her off.

"You know, Joss makes the best stew," Drakken commented.

The moss-hued Alter nodded in agreement; little Joss did make some of the best stew. The kid cooked well with limited resources. Hell, the preteen did a lot of things well with limited resources.

"So, Shego, what are we going to do about money?" the cerulean inventor asked with his mouth full of stew and sandwich.

"Hope like hell a new job comes up before we starve to death," she replied and she was being quite serious.

"Well, we could always work in the fields like Joss," he suggested.

"What do you know about working in a field?" she inquired.

Drakken was silent. Yeah, he knew about as much as working in a field as Shego did – roughly, nothing. They were not farmers or farm hands, and they did not know a plow from a hoe. Neither knew where to begin with field work. She could only wonder how Joss made it through all that work, but sometimes she considered it might have something to do with the time before she knew Joss.

They finished their meal and Drakken left; well, actually, Shego pretty much threw him out since he never knew when to leave. She listened to his unique engine as he pulled off and made his way back to his hovel. She went to take a shower in the last room of the house.

Their bathroom was pretty much a box. They had a toilet along with a small sink, and no bathtub. The only place to bathe was a shower, and the hot water only lasted ten minutes. It was a bother for Shego on days like today where she could use a long, hot shower.

She shed her clothes and started the water to wash away the grime of the day. She sighed as the warm water rained down on her pale skin. She couldn't believe she'd nearly been arrested. Nothing like that had ever happened. She always took care of business and was gone before GJ showed up. Why had they shown up so quickly?

Shego was not sure how GJ got to the battlegrounds as quickly as they did, but she chalked up to the fact that she heard they were getting better technology every day. She guessed that the advanced technology might have had something to do how quickly they tracked. If that was the case, she was going to have to start doing things with even more haste than she already did.

She frowned. She wished GJ would learn to mind their own business. They were not welcomed in the Lost Grounds and they knew that, so they needed to leave Middleton alone. No one asked for their help. No one needed their help. No one wanted their help. Yet, they were always coming in and acting better than everyone else while being all self-righteous.

It irked her tremendously. GJ felt like they had the right to police native Alters. An Upperton based law enforcement agency had no right to police the people of Middleton or subject the people to their laws, but, obviously, GJ had other ideas. They pushed into the Lost Grounds, arresting Alters for…well, just about anything as far as Shego could tell. She'd heard Alters were usually arrested for "causing a disturbance," which was anything from fighting to shouting in the street. Then there was the "abuse of power" charge, which was another vague one; hell, if she used her Alter to pick her nose, she could probably be arrested under it. As far as she was concerned, all the so-called Alter laws were excuses to pick up Alter-users so the normal people in Upperton could feel safe and dandy. No fucking way it made the non-Alter people of Middleton feel safe.

The company that GJ was born from, WEE, bastards went around collecting "native criminals" like GJ collected native Alters. She'd heard plenty of tales of GJ agents who, under orders from WEE, took over villages in the Lost Grounds, turning the normal natives into their slaves while the Alters were shipped off to jail. Even worse, were the rumors that the Alters were shipped off to Go City, the headquarters of WEE.

She could not figure out why WEE would be collecting Alter-users, so she didn't believe the rumor. She'd also never witnessed natives being used as slaves, but she wouldn't put it past those bastards from the mainland. Fuck, she wouldn't put any evil past bastards who tried to impose their will in the Lost Grounds while considering the natives to be little more than savages. People who didn't respect the Lost Grounds had no right to be in the Lost Grounds.

Her thoughts were halted as she felt the water cooling down, which let her know it was about time to wash up and get out. She finished her business in the shower before she was hit by ice water and she tossed on a long tee-shirt as pajamas. She went back out into the main room and slid into her bed, which Joss had prepared for her. She smiled. Joss always readied her bed for her.

Shego glanced at the little kid that she shared a house with. Joss was knocked out. The pale woman wondered why it seemed that Joss was a heavy-sleeper when she was in the house, but whenever she was attempting to sneak in, the sound of a feather hitting the floor seemed to wake the auburn-haired girl. She supposed when she was not around Joss was in a guarded sleep, but felt that it was all right to drift into a deeper sleep once Shego was around. It was...well, it was a form of a compliment, if one really thought about it.

The green-skinned woman hardly ever went into a deep sleep. Even before she was living in a lawless town, she was a light sleeper. It was just how she was. She knew that night she was not going to get much sleep, what happened earlier was bothering her too much for her to sleep. She couldn't believe that little redheaded GJ bitch had defeated her Fire-Shell Bullets. Her moves usually went through anything, yet that bitch stopped her moves with a thin shield from four pink ping-pong balls. Inconceivable. She'd been defeated by an Alter power for a 4-year-old. She could still see that smug bitch staring at her as if she was the scum of the Earth. _Damn uppity GJ agents…_ How could some prim kid get the better of her so easily? It was like that redheaded tramp wasn't even trying to fight. She barely lifted a finger. It was so surreal.

Shego quietly growled. She'd never been defeated in an Alter fight; she hadn't been defeated in a fight period in over a decade. She bet that she could take the little girl out if she fought her hand-to-hand, but that didn't really matter. Her Alter should've overcome that girl's, just like it overcame every other Alter. Her power was unbeatable. Yet, four goddamn ping-pong balls had soundly halted them. _If I see her again, I will win_… Shego silently vowed. There was no way that she was going to lose to anyone twice.

The emerald-eyed woman continued to think about her battle with Kim through out the night. She examined the whole thing in her mind, trying to see if she'd missed a hole in the girl's tight defense. That thin aegis seemed to be perfect, as she remembered it. No force or fire from her had done anything, except for her last bullet which had caused the shield to spark. She wasn't even sure if that meant anything; all she knew was that the powers clashing had blown her backwards in the end, and hadn't done shit to the redhead.

She wondered if the sparks meant her last attack had bothered the shield. If the sparks were a sign of weakness, it meant that girl could be defeated. She would try harder when she took on Kim again. The girl was not a goddess, even if she stood before her thinking she was. No one was invincible. _Just gotta take the redhead more seriously. _

As the sun crept up into the sky, Shego rose from her bed. She went to go put on her clothes and grabbed an apple for breakfast; she had to eat something for a morning meal or Joss would scold her until she was bluer than Drakken. She exited the house long before Joss rose; she always left before Joss woke up because she did not want to be bothered with talk about going to do "good, honest work." She used to stick around and wake up with Joss, only to skip out on the work plan long before they got to the fields. Joss still persisted, even though it seemed more than obvious that Shego had no plans to do what the preteen considered real work.

Shego walked down the dirt road near their home while munching on her apple; most of the roads in Middleton were dirt roads. There was a river nearby that she was making her way to. Most of the people in the village that she lived near knew that she lounged on a hill by the river and they often told Joss that was where the girl could find her when Joss was searching for her for whatever reasons. Shego would have found another relaxing spot, but it seemed too bothersome; she would rather Joss know where to find her anyway because one day she could need help or have important news.

Joss glanced at the door as Shego left. Typically, she would've tried to stop Shego from leaving the house. She always told people that Shego would be coming to work with her and she liked trying to make that the truth. But, that morning, she could tell that it was best to just let the older woman go. Something was bothering the pale woman, and Shego had to work through that.

Joss crawled out of bed and got dressed. She folded up her blanket and Shego's blanket. The older woman always left her bed just sitting out on the floor. The auburn-haired girl put the blankets and pillows up in the top of the closet. She turned her attention to their thin mattresses and folded up the little pallets, placing them in the closet too. With that done, she marched to the kitchen, took an apple for breakfast, and left for work. She would get lunch there.

The preteen walked the road through the nearby village and to the fields. The fields where were the community grew most of the vegetables they ate. Since it was a community effort, everyone got a fair share of what they grew. Sometimes, they didn't come up with much to split, but they always divided things as best they could.

"Hi, everybody!" Joss greeted the other workers.

"Hey, Joss," the others waved back.

Joss was the youngest person that they had working with them. They were all impressed with her responsible nature and overall hard work ethic. She was so much better than other girl that she lived with, they all thought.

"So, Joss, where's your kid?" a woman asked her. The others chuckled. Many of the villagers called Shego Joss' child, because Shego seemed to be Joss' responsibility instead of the other way around.

"She wasn't feeling too well today."

"Yeah, right. She doesn't seem to feeling well any day," another woman remarked.

Joss only smiled. She did not see the point in defending Shego. No one would bother to listen. They'd all made up their minds about her pale roommate. If they didn't think Shego was nothing more than a brute that thought only with her Alter powers, they thought that she was a lazy good-for-nothing that leeched on all of Joss' hard work. Shego was neither of those, but there was no way for her to convince people of such things.

As Joss went to get to work, she hoped that Shego was all right. For the brief moments that she had saw the green-skinned female that morning, it seemed like something was really bothering her. Joss wondered if maybe it was because she'd yelled at Shego last night, but she doubted it. She always yelled at Shego. She bet that it had something to do with GJ, since Drakken had mentioned them…

----------

Shego was still thinking about her encounter with that redhead Alter-user from GJ. She could still see those cold olive-eyed staring at her, judging her, calling her weak without saying a word. _I'll show you who's weak next time we meet, you holier-than-thou bitch_, she silently vowed. It was about the only thing that she could think about, and she just kept repeating it to herself.

Other than thoughts of destroying that GJ Alter, sporadically Shego worried about money. She had not been paid for the job last night. It had pretty much been a waste of her time, aside for meeting that Alter. She needed money, or just something to barter with to make sure she and Joss wouldn't starve to death. Sure, Joss got vegetables from her job, but they needed meat sometimes. Not to mention clothes, soap, juice or milk; if they came across any, new blankets for when it got cold, and even the occasional luxury item. Honest work did not get those items, being a fist-for-hire did. She had to earn in order for her and Joss to stay afloat, no matter what everyone else said. Joss depended on her.

And sadly, so did Drakken somewhat, since he got a small cut of the profits. Drakken got her jobs, so she gave him a percent of what she earned. Other than the money he received from her, he made due fixing whatever electronic or mechanical objects people brought to him. He was a somewhat important person in the Lost Grounds, since there were not many with his talents. Almost anyone with an education of some kind had fled to Upperton long ago.

Middleton still made due with what it had. The people were hard working, and many of them were sincere and friendly people who would eagerly help each other out no matter what. They got along with what they had, which was why they resented GJ and WEE encroaching into their area. They were not children. They could govern and police themselves. Shego smirked. Maybe she could beat that GJ bitch by just proving that point to her…


	4. Vicissitude

We still don't own these characters and we still don't own this premise.

4: Vicissitude

"_Mego, come in."_

Dr. Director was not the voice Mego expected to hear on the frequency. "Y-yes, Dr. Director?" he responded, slightly fumbling in surprise.

"_Turn back and head to the emergency units at the plane. That native Alter woman destroyed Bonnie's vehicle and escaped, but the three other Alter users the native woman was fighting have been arrested, and they need a prison transport vehicle to move them safely." _

Mego snickered. "Bonnie's car got totaled? Ooh, that musta' not been a pretty sight…"

"_Cut the irrelevant chatter, Mego. Laugh about it when you return and are off-duty. For now, go back to the plane. I have already informed the emergency personnel you'll be arriving shortly, and that your unit requires the use of their tow vehicle and prison transport van. If I hear any one more of those captured native Alters have escaped like that black-haired woman, I will be taking it out solely on you, Mego. So, I suggest you stop laughing at your fellow Grounds Justice agents and get your ass in gear."_

"Y-Yes, Ma'am!"

----------------

"Dammit…Where the hell is she? Hey, Mrs. P!" Ron wandered around the numerous emergency units. Mrs. Possible was the reason he'd been on the plane from Go City to Upperton; Gemini was getting fed up with him constantly moping about not being able to ever see Kim again, so Mrs. Possible had convinced him to transfer Ron to her daughter's unit at GJ HQ in Upperton. Gemini had agreed rather quickly, knowing it would irk Dr. Director to have another "useless Inventory worker" foisted upon her at GJ. Mrs. Possible had higher authority than Dr. Director in almost all matters of civilian personnel operations, however – even when the civilian operative was assigned to an active field unit - so Dr. Director had but no choice to accept the transfer. Ron was just glad to get away from Gemini's damned Chihuahua. For some unknown reason, Pepe hated him, no matter how nice he tried to be to the fucking dog. But, now he was away from there, and needed to find Mrs. Possible. "Hey! Mrs. Possible!"

"Ronald?"

He spun around. "Mrs. P.! There you are!"

"Ronald! Oh, good, you're okay!" Mrs. Possible hugged him.

"What happened?" asked Ron.

"That's what I'm trying to find out, myself. I overheard someone say a native Alter had jumped on the wing—"

"Um… That woman was a native Alter?"

"Woman?" asked Mrs. Possible, curious.

"You didn't see her?" Ron was a little surprised, but not completely. "A black-haired woman jumped on the wing and used it as a springboard. Hell knows where she was goin'."

"N-no. I must've been on the other side of the plane," answered Mrs. Possible.

Michelle Possible had joined GJ a few years after her daughter and Ron had eagerly signed up. She would've signed up the day Kim had, but something had made her hesitant about it. However, after seeing her daughter on the news numerous times using her Alter, the neurosurgeon had became heavily curious in learning just how Alter powers worked. Since GJ had the best medical and scientific facilities in the area, she'd decided to take advantage of them to further her research. She hadn't known it when it had happened, but Kim's Alter power first manifested on that horrifying day. She would never forget what had happened that day, no matter how she tried. Her husband and sons, falling into that crevasse along with Ron's parents…The Go Jet falling on top of her, Kim, and Ron…The three of them should've been killed that day.

But 9-year old Kim had run in front of them and called her Alter for the first time then, more on instinct and a desire to protect the people she cared about, rather than the monotonous police work her daughter was so proud of nowadays. As her Alter was already so powerful in its first appearance, Kim had managed to use it to shield them from the plane plummeting down on top of them. Mrs. Possible smirked. It hadn't been strong enough back then to prevent the jet's explosion from knocking the three of them out, but if the incident had happened today, Kim would be able stop it while yawning in her sleep. Not that she'd seen her daughter in a very long time; she and Ron had been transferred to the headquarters of WEE in Go City the night of the same day they'd signed up. They had not seen Kim at all since then, only heard about her and seen her briefly on the news. Kim was one of the most famous GJ agents, hailed in both Go City and Upperton.

"Okay, people! Move along! Everything's fine here! Just follow those nice young men and women over there and they'll take you to a transport into Upperton!" barked the man in charge of the emergency units, respectively named Mr. Barkin. He was not an Alter, but, as everyone quickly figured out, he knew what he was doing and was very good at barking out what others were supposed to be doing or where they should be going. As he unknowingly made his way near Mrs. Possible and Ron, a car drove up. The purple-skinned driver hopped out and quickly made his way over to Barkin. "Ah, Mego. You're here. Good," said Barkin, shaking the GJ agent's hand in respect. "The tow vehicle and prison transport are ready for you. Do you need—"

"Mego?" Mrs. Possible spun around. "Isn't he in Kim's unit?"

"Mrs. Possible!" gasped Barkin. "I was not informed you were on this plane! It is an honour to meet you, Ma'am," he slightly bowed.

Mrs. Possible chuckled. "Oh, c'mon, Mr. Barkin. You don't need to do that. Stand up. I'm just here to see Ron into his new position as Unit 002's Inventory worker, and give the lab here in Upperton samples of the new chemical I created that's seemed to soothe some rowdy Alters in Go City. I'll be gone by the evening." She turned her attention to Mego. "Mego, was it? You're in Kimmie's unit, aren't you?"

"K-Kimmie?" Mego nearly choked. He'd never heard anyone refer to his team leader as "Kimmie" before.

"Yes, Kimmie. Kim. Kim Possible. My daughter."

"O-oh! Yes, Kim. Yeah, I am in her unit."

"What are you doing here?"

"We were called out to apprehend the native Alter who caused this plane to land out here and she apparently destroyed Bonnie's van—"

"Whoahwhoah – Bonnie's car was destroyed?" interrupted Barkin.

Mego smirked. "Yeah, I know. I'm so annoyed I wasn't there."

"Oh, I will need dirt on this when we get back to Upperton..."

"Sorry, Barkin. I'm the scout. I wasn't there."

"Damn!"

"So, anyways, back to the reason I'm here: the rest of my team is stuck with no vehicle a few miles from here with 5 native Alters they captured, so I'm taking the emergency units' tow truck and prison transport vehicle, as they're not needed in the operation here."

"I'll go with you. It'll give Kimmie a surprise," Mrs. Possible chuckled. "Besides, don't you need a second driver?"

"No, I don't need a second driver," contested the annoyed Mego. "If I could actually be allowed to get to those cars, they'll both be at the scene in 5 minutes."

"Mego, this woman is above Dr. Director in authority. I'm sure you don't want to explain to Gemini why you refused to let her come with you."

Mego gulped at Barkin's mention of Gemini. He'd dealt with an angry Dr. Director, and he didn't want to fathom what her brother was like. "O-okay, then, Mrs. Possible. You can take one of the vehicles, I guess."

"Young Ronald will be accompanying me, by the way," said Mrs. Possible, motioning to Ron – who pointed at himself, silently asking _me?_

"What? No, no one else is coming with – Hubba hubba, never mind - Hell, Hon can ride in my car if he wants…_RRrrrowl_…" Mego purred upon seeing Ron.

"Um…I-I'll just drive the tow truck, I think," stuttered Ron, a little surprised at just having been hit on by someone who was not a woman. "Th-thanks for the offer, though…Mego, was it?"

"Yep. Mego's my name. You can wear it out any day of the week."

"Yeah, I'm – just gonna get the keys to the truck now…"

------------------

"_Kim, I'm on my way with the vehicles."_

"Good, Mego. ETA?"

"_Well, I can see you. How's that?"_

Kim looked up to see Mego driving up, the tow truck and prison transport vehicle a bit behind him. "He's coming," she told the rest of the unit.

"Oh, good. Now we can get my car back and fixed. Thank god. I'm still gonna kill that fucking bitch the next time I see her!" groused Bonnie.

"Calm yourself, Bonnie. The native Alter is not here anymore." Kim looked out across the vast and epic lands of The Lost Grounds. "However, I have a feeling this was not the last time we cross her path. If that was the infamous Fire-Shell Bullet, I say with certainty we will meet again."

"Calm down? Why should I fucking calm down? That bitch destroyed my car! How can I calm myself down after that bitch destroyed my car?"

"Whoah – Damn, that native Alter really took it apart, Bonnie." Mego, suddenly beside her, leaned down to look. "Glad it wasn't my car!"

Bonnie smacked him away. "Hey, dammit! What the hell are you doing? Don't touch my car, you purple-haired prick! And pay attention! You're on duty here! Why don't you ever act like you're on duty when you are on duty, Mego? Act like you're on fucking duty for once!"

"Enough, both of you. Save it for later," Kim scolded. "Right now we have 5 native Alter prisoners to interrogate before placing them in custody."

"Hi, Kimmie!" waved Mrs. Possible cheerfully, hopping out of the prison transport vehicle.

Ron waved with similar cheerfulness as he stepped out of the tow truck. "Yeah, hey, KP!"

Kim turned her head at movement out of the corner of her left eye, by the house and away from the newly arrived civilian personnel.

Mrs. Possible's cheerful face dropped. She stopped waving her hand. "Kimmie?"

"What's she looking at—" Ron stopped asking his question when a slew of teenage girls began to pour out of the house. When all had appeared, there were 20 girls. The first few were either wearing nothing but robes or towels, and they looked like their bodies had been thrown off cliffs, they were so extensively covered with bruises and injuries. The next few were wearing clothes that had had holes or sections ripped out of them around their breasts and between their legs. They, too, were covered with injuries. The rest had skimpy clothing and half the number of injuries.

"Oh my god!" Mrs. Possible gasped. "Ronald, grab a medkit and changes of clothes for those poor women!" she said, running over to the girls.

"Right away, Mrs. P!" saluted Ron, catching the keys from her and dashing to the rear of the prisoner transport vehicle to fetch the supplies.

The first girl flinched when Mrs. Possible reached out to examine her cacophony of wounds. "Relax. I'm not here to hurt you, young woman. Ronald—" She motioned to the young man approaching with the medkit and clothes. "He and I are here to get you back into good condition."

Kim watched as all the girls silently allowed her mother and Ron to examine the full wrath of their injuries and give them proper clothing. When all the girls had been treated, she returned her gaze to The Oh Boyz and Roland. "20 normal native teenage girls, most with severe beating and forceful sexual assault injuries. Care to explain exactly what you were doing with them in your house?" asked Kim, glaring at the Oh Boyz. Upon no response, Kim turned to the girls. "Go. Return to the village from whence you came. You do not belong to these people anymore."

The girls ran off down the opposite road, taking the other fork in it from the one they'd watched Shego and Drakken take in their escape.

Except one. Adrena Lynn had suppressed the urge to use her Alter for the longest time, using her own specially learned tricks to hide the large amount of paper money she was carrying. Luckily, she'd been last on the Oh Boyz's list, and they hadn't gotten to her yet. Once she was sure she and the girls were out of view from the house, she broke from everyone and quickly hid behind a rock formation that prevented even WEE and GJ's spy satellite above The Lost Grounds from spotting her. The girls were only running back to a worse slavery than they had been in. But none of them had spoken up about that slavery, for fear of immediately being arrested like Roland and the Oh Boyz. She needed to truly free her village. Morning was very fortunate: Adrena had seen the Fire-Shell Bullet in action. And the Fire-Shell Bullet was perfect for the job.

Kim turned back to Roland and the Oh Boyz. "I will ask you one more time: What were you doing with those normal prisoners?"

"What, like it wasn't obvious?" spat Roland.

"Are you saying you and your colleagues are admitting to using these innocent women as sexual slaves?" Kim inquired.

Roland laughed. "Hah! Innocent, my ass! Those girls were already bitches before we got 'em handed to us!"

"Yeah, them kittens were already a few months old," cackled Nicky-Nick. "Kinda' pissed us off, we wanted some newborns."

"Do you know the name of that native Alter who escaped this scene?"

"Pfft, hell if I know her real name," Roland snorted. "However, I can tell you that she is the Fire-Shell Bullet. I hope you know who that is."

"Fire-Shell Alter?" Josh looked at Tara, who shrugged. Tara looked at Yori, who also shrugged.

"Fire-Shell Alter? That was the Fire-Shell Alter? Goddammit, now I'm even more pissed! How could you beat her so easily, Kim? While I had my car destroyed by fucking punch of hers? You shouldn't have beaten that bitch! I should've fuckin' beat her, goddammit!" grumbled Bonnie.

Kim held up her hand at the brown-haired woman. She usually let her go on and on, but she was trying to get information at the moment and did not need Bonnie's interruptions now. "Why was the Fire-Shell Bullet here? Why did she fight you?" she asked Roland and The Oh Boyz.

"Oh, I don't know. Probably so she could have our kittens all to herself," Robby snickered.

"Yeah, she was probably lookin' to make some good money off 'em. Like that GJ agent who sold them to us in the first place. What a stupid guy—" Ryan's voice caught as Kim's eyes flared and in the blink of an eye, eight dark pink spheres had formed a sword inches from his throat.

Mrs. Possible gasped, stunned at her daughter's move. "Kimmie…" she whispered.

"You dare accuse a fellow officer of mine of committing heinous crimes against the innocent native normal citizens of The Lost Grounds?" Kim's voice was cold as it always was, but now there was a noticeable hint of venom behind each word, as there was whenever someone insulted GJ.

"Y-yeah! I dare!" proclaimed Ryan, looking down at the point of Kim's Alter sword.

Kim's eyes narrowed in anger. She lowered her head. "Do you have evidence? A name? Or are you just trying to trick me into letting my guard down so you can make a dash for it? Accusing any fellow GJ officer of such crimes are serious charges. Show evidence, and I might believe it."

"Evidence?" a voice practically snarled.

Everyone's heads turned to look at Dexter, who had regained consciousness, and was trying to stand up.

"EVIDENCE?" he repeated. "You fucking WEE and GJ bastards want us to show you _EVIDENCE_ of crimes your goddamn fucktarded officers have committed here against innocent people? What about you WEE and GJ fuckers thinking you have the right to just run around policing the lands you don't even fucking live in, and arresting people who are trying to simply get enough for food and water every night? That's evidence enough of crimes against the innocent people here! _BECAUSE ALL THE PEOPLE HERE ARE THE INNOCENT ONES!_ IT'S YOU FUCKERS! GODDAMN POLICE STATE BITCHES! _YOU'VE _COMMITTED THE MOST HEINOUS CRIMES HERE!"

"I have heard enough from you, native Alter. Yori, restrain him," ordered Kim.

"It will be my honour," Yori acknowledged and in seconds, she'd appeared behind Dexter, overpowered him, and cuffed him.

Kim turned back to Ryan, who was still under threat from her Alter's sword. "If you were about to argue using the same reasons, it would be best not to. I have heard such arguments from many native Alters my team has arrested – and always, it was they who later admitted full guilt."

"So, what? Are you gonna decapitate me now?" chortled Ryan.

Kim closed her eyes and sighed, very briefly. The dark pink spheres forming the sword disappeared. "No. Unlike you barbarian native Alters running amok out here in the Lost Grounds, we at GJ have learned something called respect for every life. We only kill if it is a very last resort."

"Must not be much respect, considering all the native Alters you've already killed," snapped Roland.

"All you are doing with these comments is making the length of your sentence longer, so I would hold your tongue," Kim replied. "In fact, I have heard enough as it is. Josh? Tara? Place them in the holding chambers of the prisoner transport vehicle. Everyone will be ready to return to GJ HQ the moment the native Alters are secured and Bonnie and Mego have the tow truck hooked up to our damaged vehicle, ready to follow."

"Yes, Ma'am!" replied all the GJ officers, saluting, then promptly loading into the front compartment except for Josh, Tara, Bonnie and Mego. Ron and Mrs. Possible followed the former group, walking into the spacious main section of the prisoner transport. Kim was not far behind.

"Kimmie—"

"Heyyy, KP! What's—"

Kim made no motion to acknowledge her mother's or her friend's presence as she walked past them in silence and sat in the driver's seat.

"-happenin'?" Ron's greeting deflated as Kim rerouted the radio communication signal from her headset to the prisoner transport vehicle's radio.

"Unit #002, returning from deployment in The Lost Grounds. 4 native Alters and 1 normal native have been subdued and taken into our custody. One vehicle has suffered damage, but is still in salvageable condition. Approximate ETA to the Upperton Wall about 15-20 minutes."

"_Understood, Unit #002. We will be ready for your arrival accordingly."_

------------------

Monique was waiting for her. The pudgy GJ member was currently off duty, and eating to her heart's content the row of Nacos sitting on the table. But she had to know the truth from the woman herself. She looked up as the doors opened, quickly cleaning any crumbs off of herself and standing up as Bonnie stormed past the table by the main doors she was eating at. "So, Bonnie… heard you got your car destroyed?"

"Shut up, Monique! Just shut up! I don't wanna hear it from you! I don't wanna hear it from anybody! I'm already pissed off enough! Shut up!"

"I was there!" cheered Tara, behind Bonnie, throwing her arms around her friend in a giant hug as Bonnie sped past them, ignoring in her huff.

"Oh, girl, you have _got_ to give me the details on this!" chuckled Monique with a wry smile. She held on to Tara's hands, but without much of a grip in case the blonde chose to break away the contact. However, Tara seemed not to mind one bit. "How pissed was she?" Monique asked.

"Remember when you accidentally spilled that small amount of cheese sauce on her seat cover?" Tara asked.

"Yeah?"

"Twice that."

"Whoah!" Monique's eyes widened in shock. "Aw, man, now I wish I'd been there!"

Tara laughed. Monique smiled again, blushing. Making Tara laugh was easy. She had been friends with the perky blonde woman ever since Tara had joined GJ. But Monique wanted to be able to do more with the blonde. "Um…Tara?" she asked, her blushing now quite visible.

"Yeah?" Tara looked at her friend. It was obvious what Monique wanted to say, from the redness on the cheeks on the woman's face. But…

Monique looked down. "Um, do you want…uh…want a…"

"Want what?"

Monique jumped as Tara's grip on her hands increased, pulling the two slightly closer together. She looked back up into Tara's eyes, which only made her more nervous. "Uh…Do you want…Do you want a… A Naco?" she sputtered, instantly cringing and mentally kicking herself.

Tara giggled. "You know, you're really cute when you're embarrassed...Sure, I'll have a Naco."

Monique's eyes brightened in happy shock. "You will?"

"Yeah, as long you don't get mad if I take it from you," Tara chuckled.

"Girl, you can take anything from me, I don't care just as long as it's you doing the taking," said Monique, grinning, her nervousness fading.

Tara just laughed again as she reached for one of the Nacos. "Thanks for the offer, Monique. But I think I'll just take the Naco one for now." As she ate, she knew Monique was watching, eyes glazed over in a daydream. She didn't mind. It was just – well, she didn't want to be rude-

"Oh, Josh! Wait up!" She stood up and raced after Josh as he walked by, leaving Monique stunned, looking at the half-eaten Naco of hers.

"Dammit!" sulked the raven-haired woman. "So close…Well, at least she thinks I'm really cute, that's gotta be a good sign. But… Dammit!"

"_Tara, stop following me around! Please. You know I'm not interested in you." _

Monique's ears perked up upon hearing Josh's voice. She stood up and walked over, standing just outside the mini-cafeteria for GJ agents.

"_I'm interested in Kim. Why don't you just go with Monique? You know she likes you, and you two have been best friends for ages."_

"_Well, I don't have an orientation preference, but I just don't wanna hurt Monique by saying I don't like the way she looks. I'd feel mean, and I wouldn't be respecting her if I told her up front. I mean, I like the way she looks, and I know she likes me a lot, but it's just – well, I at least want someone in shape. Even if I met someone else who was a lot like her, I'd be hesitant because of they way they looked. If she were in shape, I'd be fine. I mean, she doesn't have to slim down or anything – just…No jelly rolls, please. Ew."_

Monique's heart raced. "All I have to do is use the gym a bit each day? Yes!" With that, she ran to her quarters to change into gym clothes, but stopped. "Oh, wait! I gotta go finish my Nacos first!" She turned again and dashed back to her table before anyone could steal her meals.

----------------

"I am glad to see you are alright, Mother. I was not informed of your presence on the plane, but it is good to see you again."

"Kimmie – It's good to see you, too, honey." Mrs. Possible, finally glad her daughter had acknowledged she was there, leaned in to hug her.

Kim held up her hand, backing away. "Please. I must request that you do not address me by that. You may call me Kim or Kimberly only."

Michelle's face dropped again. "Kim?"

"I am assuming you are here to deliver something to our research staff?" asked Kim.

"Yes." Mrs. Possible motioned to Ron. "I'm also here to see Ron to his new position as the Field Inventory worker for your unit—"

"I see. In that case, follow me. I will take you to our research labs, and then show Ron to his new living quarters. Knowing the speed and hospitality of our agents here at GJ, I can assure him that his luggage is fine, and will already be waiting in his room when we arrive at it."

"That's great, KP. Can't we talk to you at all about—"

"If you are going to ask me about how I have been, I am fine, thank you for asking about my condition. Here it is, Mother. Our research lab."

"Oh, well, Kim – Can't we –" Mrs. Possible tried to protest, but Kim was already walking away from the room, taking Ron to his room.

----------------

"I am glad to see you in good health, Ron. It has been a while since I last saw you." Kim opened the curtains to the large window in the room.

"'A while?' KP, what is wrong with you?" asked Ron.

"Nothing is wrong with me, Ron. In fact, I am feeling better than I ever have before." She stared out the window at The Lost Grounds in the distance, her expression never changing. "What GJ is doing – is making everyone's world safer. We are doing the citizens of both Upperton and The Lost Grounds a favour by rooting out these reckless native Alters, who do nothing but abuse their powers to hurt and control others."

"Wouldn't you think the people of Middleton would be able to police themselves?"

"The people of Middleton proved themselves many years ago to be incapable of keeping the native Alters in check, both against their own citizens and against the people of Upperton. After the numerous incidences in both Middleton and Upperton involving native Alters, GJ had no choice but to step in and begin policing The Lost Grounds. All these native Alters have done is ruin lives, plain and simple. We will stop them."

"I don't think you should be so harsh to judge like that, KP. I mean, aren't they all just trying to survive out there?"

"You saw the 4 native Alters we captured today, Ron." Kim turned so fast, so robotically. Ron could not believe this was the same girl he'd been best friends with for the first 9 years of his life. The girl who always tried to smile, who always laughed; this was truly not the same girl who was infamous with him for all her spunk and energy. "You saw what they were doing, holding 20 normal native girls they had kidnapped as sexual slaves. Those were certainly not actions I would describe as 'Just trying to survive.' Would you describe that as 'Just trying to survive?'"

"Well, no…But—"

"Exactly." Kim turned back to looking out the window. "We are helping the people of Middleton. By taking the native Alters to a place where they cannot harm anyone else, or allowing them to reform from their reckless ways by joining our ranks as another agent of GJ, we are helping to bring peace and stability to the entire region. I am extraordinarily hopeful that I may be able to see such a moment happen in my lifetime."

No, it had to be a clone. There was no way the Kim he knew could have turned into someone this cold and distant. "KP, you spent the first 9 years of your life living in Middleton. You know the people there weren't bad. Why don't you give 'em a chance? C'mon, remember our past!"

"Anything is possible for a Possible." There was no change in her tone of voice.

"Yeah! Like that – only, with emotion this time…"

Kim whirled with frightening speed and precision. "Including forgetting the past. It is of no concern to me anymore, Ron. I look only to what the future holds for the great citizens of Upperton, Go City, and Middleton. Once GJ has captured every last native Alter in The Lost Grounds – I hope above hope to that day, when we will finally be able to declare a unity of the three lands, with full peace and security for all. There is an orientation meeting for all new staff members in 20 minutes, in Dr. Director's office. Now, I am on duty and I am wasting my time here. Adieu."

"KP, c'm-" Ron protested, but she was already 2 steps out the door. Ron sighed, sinking onto the bed. "Some 'catching up' that was…"

----------------

"So you finally ran into the infamous Fire-Shell Bullet."

"Yes, we did."

"And she destroyed your unit's prison transport vehicle with one punch."

"Correct. And I apologize. I should have handled the native Alter from the start, instead of allowing Bonnie to attack her."

Dr. Director smirked. She knew Kim did not trust Bonnie completely, since Bonnie had just recently been reformed from The Lost Grounds. Yet Bonnie had fast proven herself to be a very effective agent – even if no one could truly understand what the hell she was saying all the time. It was fitting, actually. Bonnie lived fast, drove fast, ate fast – Monique and a few others always joked that she probably took a shit fast, too. So it made perfect sense that Bonnie would quickly prove her worth as an agent in the field.

Kim could just not understand that concept, however. Kim was not like Bonnie. Kim operated slowly. She was methodical and calm in combat, preferring to defend herself primarily while an enemy attacked. That way, it allowed Kim to analyze her opponent's style of attack, letting them waste their energy while she searched for a vulnerability, which, upon finding one, she attacked with a precision strike carrying only the amount of force that was necessary to exploit the vulnerability and disable her adversary. She never used more energy than she needed, viewing it as wasteful. This was Kim's style, and it was quite fitting for her. Seeing as she'd personally been trained by Dr. Director herself, it made perfect sense that it would be her style. Bonnie's style was drastically different, and because of that, Kim was still wary of the speed freak. She did not trust Bonnie's urge to simply flatten every native Alter they came across. In Kim's mind, Bonnie was still mostly the same reckless native Alter she was when they had originally captured her.

Normally, Dr. Director would be the first person to agree with Kim's opinion, but this time the exchange had been far from normal. "No."

"What?"

Dr. Director looked at Kim. "Sending Bonnie after the woman may not have been the right decision, but by doing so, we know the Fire-Shell Bullet may just be as powerful as the rumours of her declare she is. Look at it this way, this was a valuable mistake. Like I've told you time and time again, people learn from their mistakes. None of us here knew the Fire-Shell Bullet's true amount of power. By destroying the van first, followed by you handling her easily up until she escaped, we now know that she is powerful, but not so powerful as to not be stopped."

"I see," Kim nodded.

"Did you happen to catch the woman's real name?"

"No. She never stated it." Most people wouldn't even know that someone _could_ notice it, but Dr. Director knew Kim was extremely annoyed, mentally kicking herself because she didn't know the raven-haired woman's real name. That was another thing she had taught the young woman how to do; these native Alters were always so haughty, it was easy to get them to proclaim their real name for all to hear. If a native Alter ever escaped, which none had actually accomplished, up until the confrontation earlier, knowing their name made it a cinch to track them down.

"I think we should try and recruit this woman into GJ before she does any more damage to us and our vehicles. Don't you agree?"

It was the first time Dr. Director had ever seen Kim think about an answer for more than 5 seconds. "I do. But—"

"But, you have reservations. That's understandable. But, we will have to sit on pursuing this course until she is drawn out again on her own."

"Yes, Dr. Director." Kim nodded her head to acknowledge. "Pardon me if it is not my place, but I must say I believe that will not take long."

"No, it shouldn't." Dr. Director stood up. "In the meantime, we have been hearing rumours that a few native Alters are holding a small village hostage as labor slaves. I have sent a few members of another unit in to infiltrate the village and confirm or deny these rumours. The town is the only one with advanced technology that survived the event all those years ago. We cannot take any chances of the native Alters using that equipment and being notified of our agents inside the village. Run this programmed set of intermittent scans and sweeps within the boundaries of these coordinates until I give the order to halt such activities and return to the normal schedule of intermittent scans and sweeps, and all GJ units shall halt the pursuit of any native Alter attempting to flee into that area, unless I personally give the all clear to proceed. Do you understand?"

Kim nodded, taking the disc. "Completely, Ma'am."

"Good. Now, go. You are off-duty as soon as that disc and my instructions have been given to Wade. I suggest you might want to go catch your mother before her plane to Go City leaves."

"I shall try. Thank you, Dr. Director." Kim saluted, turned, and left the office, brushing past Ron as he came in.

"What? Not even a casual "Hi?" Aw, c'mon, KP!" whined the blonde male.

"Ah. You must be young Ronald," said Betty. "Kim told me of your exceptional skills beyond mere Inventory work today in the field."

"She did? And yes, Ma'am, I am Ronald Stoppable."

Dr. Director stood up, shaking his hand. "Good to have you on GJ staff, Ron. Have a seat. You aren't the only one starting a job here today."

"Uh…Thank you, Ma'am," said Ron, sitting down as a few other normal, low-maintenance staff members filed in for the Orientation Meeting.

----------------

Michelle sighed as the plane taxied out. "You acted like I was more of a nuisance than your mother…Kimmie …What happened to you?"

As the jetliner took off, she was half-glad to be heading back to Go City. So close to the stars, The Lost Grounds - yet, it had been freezing…

----------------

She didn't care if they were watching. Dawn was breaking, and the Fire-Shell Bullet was walking down the road. This was her only chance.

"Hey!"

Shego stopped at the woman rushing from behind a boulder at her. "What the fuck? Who are you, and why did you ruin my morning walk?"

"My name is Adrena Lyn. I want to hire you to save my village."

"How much? And from who?"

"From some GJ agents. Not any of the ones who nearly arrested you yesterday. Oh, and the price? $12,000. To make up for whatever the price whoever hired you yesterday to save me and those 19 other girls from my village from The Oh Boyz put up for you."

"What? GJ freed those girls only to send 'em into their own slavery? Those fucking bastards! Oh, they're gonna fuckin' pay!" Shego growled.

"I'll pay you right here and now, but only if I get to come along with and beat some of their goddamn corrupt heads with you."

"You got an Alter power?"

"Friends dubbed it 'Freaky Wing Missiles," Adrena affirmed. "I'm surprised GJ's scans didn't pick me up inside the house."

"Works for me. Can probably use these GJ boneheads for practice, anyways, 'til I face that red-haired bitch of a GJ agent again. Just beat their scrawny asses, get stronger, then come back and beat that bitch's ass. Let's go!" snarled Shego, following where Adrena ran down the road.


	5. Thermopylae

We still don't own these characters and we still don't own this premise.

Yeah, the story is still brought to you by the same three authors. Enjoy.

05: Thermopylae

"Why must you people always complain? Complain, complain, complain! We are so much better than you, you should be proud to be doing this labour for us!"

"Just please, let us rest for a few minutes! We've been working nonstop since dawn!"

"Then you should have enough energy to keep working until the end of the day!"

"Please! That monster of a woman doesn't even let us have wa-!"

"Monster? Hey, what's going on over here with the freaks?"

"Ugh, they just won't stop whining about how tired they are again!"

"Oh, for cryin' out loud, I've told you a million times there's only one way to get these losers to stop thinking they deserve to sit at the same table as us!"

"Oohoohoo! The savage beatings again?"

"Exactly. But, I get first shot at this one since he seems to think I'm not as awesomely cool and terrifying as everyone else knows I am."

"No! Please! I didn't mean it! I'll get back to work right now – I'll-AHHHH!"

-----

An appalled scowl marring her face, Shego looked away from the scene below in disgust. She knew GJ was a corrupt bunch of jackboot thugs, but this was far beyond what she'd imagined. It'd taken them the better part of the day to reach Adrena's village, and now that she was there, she was ready to march in and hand those bastards their asses. Painfully. "Ok, let's go tear these fuckers up."

Adrena Lynn scowled, snatching the green woman by the arm, shaking her head as she tried to drag Shego back from the edge of the cliff. "What, are you insane, or just plain stupid?"

"Alright, Wingbitch, first, take that hand off me or I'll burn it off," she snarled, lighting her green plasma energy. "Second, never, EVER say something snippy about me like that again, or I'll voluntarily hand you over to those GJ pricks. Third, you hired me to kick their asses, right? What's the fucking problem all of a sudden?"

"We need a plan! We need to decide what we're going to do so we can…"

"I have a plan, Wings. I walk in there, I kick their butts. Simple as that." Shego's grin as she spoke was almost feral, and it had Adrena questioning her choice of hiring her. Sure, the woman was legendary to those she often came into contact with, but no one had mentioned how violent she was… "As far as your shitty binoculars can tell, there's a bitch and a he-bitch, both overtanned—"

"Amelia and Junior."

"Alright, fine. Whatever. Go ahead and dignify the bastards with names, if you want to be so complimentary. I don't care who the fuck they are. I just care about sending them back to GJ with their assholes caved in." Shego scowled. "Damn…Why does the bitch have to be with GJ? Woman looks like she knows how to have herself a good time… Oh, yeah, and there's a third fucker wandering around down there, too. Carrying a coffin with him like it's his backpack or something."

"What?" Adrena snatched the binoculars from her. "Oh, shit! Of all the…Goddammit, why does _he_ have to be here?"

Shego's hopes rose. She'd been a bit disappointed when she counted only three GJ agents, but the near panic in her employer's voice told her she might have some fun after all. "Lemme guess, a badass, right?" Her smile grew devilishly large as Adrena, looking like she was gonna run the other direction any second, nodded.

"Badass is being kind. This guy, Will Du…He's a killer. Most vicious person in the Lost Grounds. I'm lucky I haven't crossed him, but everyone else who has is dead."

Shego's skepticism rose. She'd been in the Lost Grounds since it was formed. There were plenty of murderous scumbags who were probably worse than this guy; hell, she made good money destroying most of 'em. And yet, she'd heard next to nothing about this Will Du. Her sources were probably more reliable than Adrena Lynn's, but she wouldn't put it past any of them to fudge the details about him. Judging by Lynn's reaction, they did seem to fear him only slightly less than they feared her. Might even prefer an encounter with Du over her. A smirk crawled from her lips. "Well, you paid good money for this. I hate to disappoint my clients."

Before Adrena could argue, Shego grabbed her arm and leapt off the cliff. If no one knew they were there before, Adrena's startled scream was quite informative.

-----

"So, this is how you handle security around these slaves is it? I should have known I couldn't leave such a vital matter to your incompetent hands, Amelia."

Amelia scowled. Oh, how she loathed her boss... It was humiliating enough having Will scold her for an hour over some "lost slaves" who'd just happened to turn back up, but to be slagged at for her security? If it weren't for the damned casket he carried like a trophy, she'd show him competence… She ignored his complaints about production, since he didn't want to hear her complaints about needing replacements for the ones Junior worked to death a week ago. Hell, she wasn't even sure why they wanted so much of that damned blue rock, but she wasn't in a position to debate or argue the issue, so she didn't care. Besides, her anger was being wasted. It was time to refocus and put it to use on the sonofabitch who'd decided to crash the party.

Junior gazed vacantly in the direction his fellow GJ agents were staring for a moment before returning his attention to buffing out the dust in his meticulously honed and polished fingernails. He could care less that some natives were daring to approach the compound. He was a lover firsthand, not a fighter. He would've been a fighter, but it was too much work, and he hated punching people. Except for the savage beatings. The savage beatings were always fun, and he didn't have to worry about any of the slaves savagely beating him back, because they were all so weak. As long as the savage beatings helped keep Amelia smiling at him. She always complimented him on the effectiveness of his savage beatings. Not like Will. Will never complimented him on anything. He hated Will with a passion at the moment.

Will stepped back as he watched the pair of figures arc through the air and calculated where they would land. He would've been impressed with the impact if the intruders had been male. Since they were decidedly female, he scoffed, moved his feet to stay balanced as the shockwave rippled the ground beneath him, and prepared to depart. After all, who better to handle the girls than the women who ran the place?

"_Do not withdraw yet, agent Du,"_ came the voice over the secure line in his earpiece. It was unusual for his superior to make such direct contact, but he chalked it up to the situation deviating from Gemini's explicit instruction.

"As you command, Sir."

Shego stood defiantly in the middle of the small crater she'd produced. She shook the dust and debris from her hair and let go of Adrena, her client faceplanting on the ground, sprawled out in temporary shock. That was the main reason that she didn't drag anyone along on her ventures often. As she stood up and regained herself, Adrena couldn't believe how cocky the Fire-Shell Bullet was. It hadn't occurred to her that she might be making a deal with a worse devil than the one she faced in the GJ agents occupying her village. "You're absolutely insane, you know that?"

"Thanks for the compliment. Now shut up and let me handle this." The green-skinned woman's eyes narrowed as she turned to the GJ agents and caught Amelia, Junior, and Will in her sights. "So, you GJ fucks are the ones I'm here to destroy? Oh, I'm being overpaid on this one, not that that'll stop me, however…"

Will made a step forward, and to his dismay, the earpiece crackled again. _"Do not engage her directly. Let Amelia and Jr. handle this green one. You focus on the blonde. She may be of use to us. Take her out and see to it she is brought in."_

Will turned to Amelia and Junior. "Amelia, the green one is all yours. Junior, you back her up." His gaze fell on Adrena Lynn. "Miss Lynn here is mine."

Amelia advanced on Shego, a wicked gleam in her eye. "This is the last day you'll ever get to fuck up, bitch, so enjoy the seconds you've got left. **_COOL WHIPS!"_**

Shego yawned as she saw the familiar rainbow iridescence emanate from the auburn-haired diva. She couldn't see any local mass disintegrate, so the woman's Alter was probably the weakest she would ever encounter. This wasn't going to be as fun as she had hoped. "Yeah, whatever. Bring it, I guess."

Then Amelia's hair shot out to lengths unreachable by normal, non-Altered hair. The strands thickened near her head, and tassels formed at their tips. Shego raised her eyebrow, and a sly grin slowly spread over face as she looked back up at Amelia. "So, you really _do_ want me to enjoy our short time together…"

**_CRACK!_ **She jumped backwards as the annoyed Amelia lashed out with her first attack.

-----

_Damn…_Dr. Director watched the monitor in dismay. Their covert investigation had been outed. She hadn't expected the Fire-Shell Bullet to be behind the slavery ring, even though it fit with the description she got from Kim about the last encounter with slavers. Shego had probably been there to collect the women, unhappy at how the Oh Boyz had so badly used her new slaves. "Wade, discontinue the scans, prepare to dispatch Unit 002. Mego, report to your scouter, head out immediately to the coordinates Wade will give you."

Wade Load pushed himself out from under the Grounds Justice van he pampered almost as much as he pampered the intricate network of computers that he was mentally linked to. There wasn't a place within the Grounds Justice command centre that was out of his connectivity range. With a casual thought, he cast his mind out into the network and disabled the scanners he was currently running over the Lost Grounds and began focusing on the details of the energy signature that caught Dr. Director's attention. "Affirmative, Dr. Director scans disengaged, coordinates locked and downlinked to scouter 356."

He almost regretted having to inform Unit 002 of their orders, since he wasn't finished repairing Bonnie's precious van. "Excuse me, Dr. Director, but there will be a slight delay. I haven't finished the repairs to …"

"Better hurry then, Agent Load. You know Bonnie's already looking to tear your hide apart for taking this long.'

He could tell the Director was laughing, even if her laughter couldn't be picked up by the mic. Just as he was about to dive back under the van and finish assembling the drive train, he heard the last voice that he wanted to hear angry at him. He wished he were already finished, so he wouldn't have to listen to her ranting at him to move faster. When it came to her, he had far too many "almosts," but he wouldn't make much of it even if he wanted to. Of the entire GJ staff, she was the only one who ever talked directly to him as a peer, it didn't hurt that they shared a mutual lust for things that went fast. "Oh, well, best get this over with," he conceded as he turned to face the irate speed freak. At least she was good to look at, which made her acting like a demon when he fell behind on keeping her van in top shape tolerable.

-----

Mego dashed out of his quarters a bit upset; he'd been enjoying looking at himself in the mirror and imagining a particular blonde there with him when the order had come to head out. Luck was favouring him heavily, though because he all but ran over the blonde in his haste. A wicked idea came to him as he slowly untangled himself from the lanky young man. "Hey, Hon. We have got to stop running into each other like this."

Ron rubbed the sore spot on his ass as he accepted Mego's offered hand. He was slowly getting used to the way Mego was constantly hitting on him, but he still found it a bit unnerving. "Er yeah … sorry bout that."

Mego chuckled. Ron was so cute when he was embarrassed. "Say, Hon, how would you like to go with me to watch Kim kick some ass?"

Ron was torn over the answer to that surprising question. On one hand, it would certainly mean he'd get into serious trouble with the duty supervisor. On the other hand, it would mean he would have to put up with Mego hitting on him for however long they were out in the Lost Grounds, but it would also mean he would get to see how Kim had grown with her Alter and he very much wanted to see what she could do now… "Uh … yeah, why not?" he ceded. "It's not like I'll get yelled at anymore than I normally do. Why is Agent Jones so bitchy? And what the hell happened to his voice?"

Mego grabbed Ron's hand and proceeded to drag him to the vehicle hangar. The only way he could get Ron out was if they hurried, and he definitely wanted to get Ron. "Agent Jones? Oh, Falsetto… Yeah, funny story, his. I don't know all of the details, but he was apparently using a helium tank to inflate balloons for some dog banners when the, uh – incident - occurred. Basically, to make a long story short, Hon, you really don't wanna find out what Falsetto's Alter is. Trust me."

-----

Kim scowled. "It is about time, Tara. Why is Monique not with you?"

Tara swallowed nervously as she marched over to the small group, apparently still waiting for Wade to finish his repairs, as the steady barrage of insults spewing from Bonnie's overactive mouth at Wade easily gave away. "I have no idea."

Kim nodded. Technically, Monique wasn't needed for this operation, but she had still been ordered to come along for backup reasons. But now was not the time. She would deal with Monique later. "I see. At least you are on time, Tara. Remember: You are still on notice. Once more and you're off the squad. Is that clear?"

Tara gulped fearfully and nodded.

"Good. Now, since we do not have a vehicle just yet, I will brief you before we go," continued Kim, looking pointedly at Wade, who hurriedly ducked under the van again and began making a fair bit of noise to indicate that he was working. "Dr. Director informs me that a Grounds Justice unit working undercover to discover the source of the rumoured 'slave market' in the Lost Grounds has been outed, putting the agents and their mission in jeopardy. She also informs me that the Fire-Shell Bullet is responsible. We are to first extract the undercover agents from harm's way, then apprehend the Fire-Shell Bullet and bring her back to the headquarters for interrogation and assimilation into our ranks. Some of you here undoubtedly want to say they think that is a waste of time and energy - that such a wild creature cannot possibly be reformed, and is better off being sent straight to Go City for permanent incarceration - but let me remind all of you that nothing is impossible, and that it is not our position to question the orders we are given. I will handle the Fire-Shell Bullet personally when we arrive. The rest of you will focus on her accomplice."

Bonnie stalked her way over to where Kim was standing and tried to force the redhead to turn and face her. She knew it was futile since nothing yet had been able to move Kim if she wasn't willing to move, but she tried anyway. "Hold it right there, Kim. That green bitch is gonna pay for hurting my ride! No one – NO ONE hurts my van, got it? Got it? Do you?"

The scowl on Kim's face when her team leader turned around was enough to let Bonnie know she'd made a grave mistake. "First, Agent Rockwaller, never lay a hand on me again. Second, if you do not quickly learn to stop questioning your orders and just obey them when they are given to you, I will personally see to it that your vehicle is impounded AND that you are demoted back down to the Janitor position you began your tenure here at. Have I made myself clear?"

Bonnie's voice choked. "Yes, Ma'am."

"Alright, van's done!" announced Wade.

"Give me the keys, Bonnie. I will drive us this time," Kim ordered, her hand already outstretched. Bonnie nodded, handing her superior the keys to the van and Kim was in the driver's seat in the blink of an eye. "We will not return from this mission until we have accomplished what we have been ordered to do. The Fire-Shell Bullet escaped from us last time. But, now we know what she is capable of. There will be no excuses for letting her escape a second time. And we will NOT allow a fellow Grounds Justice agent to be slaughtered." The garage doors opened and to everyone's surprise, Kim gunned the car away at speeds even Bonnie didn't think her ride was capable of reaching. No one dared comment on it, though, the furious glare in Kim's eye meant that reasoning with her was out of the question. Kim hated failure, and that glare meant she was determined not to fail the mission this time around. Especially with lives of fellow GJ agents on the line.

-----

"_**FREAKY WINGS!" **_

Will Du stood and watched as Adrena leapt into the air, the rainbow iridescence swirling around her. It stabbed into her back, then exploded outward from her shoulder blades, solidifying into a massive pair of silver wings, which glinted brightly in the sun. Attached to the undersides of the wings on both sides was a battery of missiles. Adrena looked down at Will, her fear of him diminishing as her rage grew. "Now - **_YOU PAY FOR ENSLAVING MY VILLAGE!"_**

Will smirked derisively as she plummeted straight towards him. "Hmmph – This is too eas-AH!" He threw his hands up and leapt backwards as she suddenly righted herself, blinding him with her wings just as she fired a volley of missiles. Forced to dodge the projectiles, which were unnervingly accurate for a weaker Alter power like hers, Will frowned. This was going to take just a bit longer than he'd expected. Quickly masking his annoyance, he looked up at her, twisted his face into a bitingly sly grin, and calmly dodged the second run of missiles as he walked over to the coffin he carried everywhere, ducking away from surgically sharp metallic feathers as Adrena swooped over and tried to slice him in two. The coffin in his hands, he turned back to his opponent. "You should have flown away like the coward you are, Ms. Lynn. Really, such a weak Alter power. You're just wasting your energy trying to blind me with those enormous wings of yours."

Growling, Adrena launched herself at him again, but just as she was too close to get away, he opened the coffin. Adrena screamed in pain as something lashed out of the wooden box and slashed at her wings too fast for her to even see it move. Gritting her teeth and summoning every ounce of strength in her body, she rocketed back up away from him. When she righted herself, the razor sharp edges of her wings were gone. Looking down, Will was now holding a massive pair of scissors he'd taken out of the coffin and he'd extended the length of their blades with her missing wingtips. Shoving the pain deep down inside her, Adrena gave a bloodcurdling war cry and plowed back down at him, spinning like a drill as she fired off every last missile she had, throwing up a huge cloud of smoke and dust as explosion after explosion cratered the land. Sure she'd hit him this time, there was no possible way anyone could have missed with a barrage of that magnitude, Adrena had no time to react when Will exploded out of the smog she'd created, jumped onto her back, and plunged his scissors into her shoulder blades, digging the wings out of her flesh like he was shoveling dirt. Shrieking in agony as her wings disintegrated in Will's hands, Adrena dropped from the sky like a two-ton boulder, blacking out immediately upon crashing into the ground. Will calmly stepped off her back and circled her unconscious form. "Hmmph. Pity this had to happen. In another time, I may have considered you attractive. Oh well," he sighed as he picked her body up. "No good spoiling new specimens before they've had time to prove any usefulness. Come along now, Ms. Lynn." He opened the coffin, placed her inside, and walked away, vanishing into the still-lingering cloud of dust.

------

Staggered by the concussive force of Adrena's barrage, Amelia spun around and sent her hair whips flying, missing as Shego dodged and leaped around the striking whips, rolling into the fog of dust, leaving Amelia's attacks to dredge up nothing a series of deep trenches in the ground. "You haven't used your Alter yet, Fire-Shell. Why? Are you scared of my so totally cool and absolutely awesomely devastating Alter power?" she sneered, looking around for the green-skinned woman.

"Oh, you think I'm _scared_ of you, now?" Shego's voice broke out of the haze. "Well, think again, bitch," she snarled, her voice changing to its familiar icy menace. "Keeping these innocent people as slaves – you people make me SICK! I don't need my Alter to defeat you – I can do that with the power I have **_ALREADY!" _**

Igniting her plasma in a brilliantly green plume as she burst out of the smog, Shego screamed with all her anger and plowed her fists into Amelia's chest. Completely caught off guard, the punch, combined with the discharge of plasma energy, sent the GJ agent flying backwards, completely collapsing one of the slave's quarters when she slammed through its roof in a hail of splintering wood and debris. Storming over while the slaves ran screaming out of the way, Shego yanked Amelia up by her hair when she reached the agent lying in the rubble. "Oh no, you're not getting out of this one, you GJ freak. What you've done to this village is despicable beyond words, so now I'm gonna do what you did to them. I'm gonna take away everything that makes you what you are. See how YOU like it for a change!"

Unable to attack her with her Alter, fear began to leak into Amelia's mind as she watched the rubble disappear around her with a loud SNAP and the rainbow iridescence swirl around Shego's arm until the Fire-Shell Bullet's Alter power had solidified. "Please – No! Stop! I'll leave! I-We'll let the freaks go!" she pleaded.

"Aww…" Shego leaned in close. "Too late. Flaming first BULLET!" One of the spines on her back disintegrated, her arm once again enveloped in a swirl of green fire. But this time, Shego aimed her arm so that her momentum took her streaking backwards past Amelia, who realized all too late her hair was still firmly in her grip.

The sickening sound of millions upon millions of nerves uprooting was followed by the most bloodcurdling scream ever as all of Amelia's hair was violently pulled cleanly out of her head. **_"MY HAIR! MY TOTALLY AWESOME SUPER COOL HAIR!" _**she screeched, collapsing to her knees, clutching her now-bald head, writhing in pain as blood began to faintly seep from the involuntarily emptied pores on her scalp. **_"YOU RUINED IT! YOU RUINED IT, YOU BITCH!"_**

Shego ignited her plasma, burned Amelia's hair up, kneeled down, and blew the ashes in the GJ agent's face, watching the woman's horrified stare as the glorified soot floated away in the wind. "And you've ruined The Lost Grounds," she snarled, sending a viciously swift kick into Amelia's face to knock her out for good.

------

Mego gawked openmouthed at what he had just seen through the display on his long range visual scanner: The Fire-Shell Bullet easily destroying Amelia, with only the first level of her Alter power! And Amelia was one of the highest-ranked officers, up there with Dr. Director, Will, and Kim. He looked at Ron, whose face was in an equal state of shock. Frantically, Mego put his crush on the blonde man aside and hastily hit the commlink. "Mego to Unit 002: You better damn well get here FAST, Kim! Amelia's just gone down, Will completely disappeared about, uh, five minutes ago and Junior'll be lucky if he's still alive before I get there myself!"

------

Kim scowled deeply as she watched the footage piped over from Mego. The Fire-Shell Bullet was nothing more than a savage beast as far as she could see. The green-tinted woman seemed to revel in the pain and suffering she inflicted on others. Amelia would never be combat capable again, as the source of her Alter power had just been brutally pulled out of her head. "Unit 002 to Mego: Do not directly engage the native Alter. She is far too dangerous for you to handle. Copy?"

Josh blinked and looked over at Yori, who also blinked. Kim rarely gave Mego orders that didn't include direct confrontation. Though he had the least powerful Alter of their unit, the majority of the most powerful native Alters would stand just a few minutes against him. Only a few elite natives could hope to beat Mego.

"_Copy that, Kim. Ron and I'll play decoy 'till you show up to cuff… well, 'her' isn't be the best description of what I just saw, but it does for right now… Oh, yeah, but what if she decides she doesn't recognize the fact that I've been ordered not to engage her?"_

Kim pushed the gas pedal of the van down further. "Then I'll be showing emotion when we arrive."

Everyone else in the van looked at each other, blinking.

-----

"Well, that oughta be a sight…" Mego mused once he'd moved his headset mic out of pickup range.

Ron whirled to look at the purple-hued man. "G – Get there? You mean we…We aren't gonna go down there, are we?"

"Look, Hon, as much as I'd like to sightsee up here with you, MY colleagues are down there getting their asses handed to them. I am a GJ officer, and even my egocentrism will not allow me to just sit here and watch until people I know end up dead! So grab your puke bag, Hon, cuz we're about to go a bit airborne."

Before Ron could protest, Mego stomped on the gas pedal and launched his scouter over the rim of the hill. Silently, he prayed that it wouldn't take Kim much longer to arrive because while he wanted very much to impress Ron with his bravery, he wanted to be that type of brave hero who _survived_ his acts of heroism.

Much to his relief, the moment the scouter went airborne, he saw his team's van join it in cloudsurfing not far away. "Oh, thank, god…" he sighed.

-----

Hearing movement, Shego looked up with a growl, catching the frightened Junior like a deer in headlights, right in the middle of the act of trying to escape past her. "So, pretty boy…" she snarled, igniting her plasma energy and advancing on him, "We gonna dance or are you just gonna let me ruin those billion dollar teeth?"

Junior backed up in terror from the demon approaching. "Oh, how do I end up in these situations? I must ask Father to reassign me to Go City after th-AHH!" he screamed as she lunged at him, barely dodging her. As the Fire-Shell Bullet faceplanted, he bolted for his life. "Corinthian Adonis!" he shrieked as she got up and tore after him, stopping as the rainbow iridescence flowed over him. When it was done…His tan had deepened, his skin taking on an almost unearthly perfection.

Shego pulled up and dropped back, waiting for him to attack. When he didn't, she began to laugh uproariously. "Ahaha – THAT'S your Alter? A tan? Ahahaha – forgive me for being amused, but that is the weakest fucking Alter I have ever seen! No wonder you only beat on the innocent people who can't fight you back!"

"A tan? My Alter is not a tan! Corinthian Adonis is a shield! It just happens to look like a perfect tan, is all! But now I can stand here and not be harmed by you!"

"Uh, okay, whatever. Fine. Just stand there. Makes it easier for me." Not wanting to waste the second stage of her Alter, Shego lit her other hand up with her plasma energy and smashed her fist into his gut, easily shattering his "tan" into pieces as he screamed. "Ah. Another one of you sissies who feels pain when your Alter gets destroyed. I need to start running into more of you pansies. It's fun." She yanked him up by his shirt collar, raising her fist to knock him out for good–

"_Native Alter, halt your illegal activities and surrender now!"_

Shego grinned. Now the fun really began.

She dropped Junior, who by now had fainted, and turned as she stood, staring at the small army behind her. "Took you long enough to show up, there, Princess. Jeez, I thought you cared about your fellow agents. Well, then again, I suppose if your fellow agents don't care about protecting The Lost Grounds like you, then-"

Kim scowled. The native Alter was despicable. "This time you will be brought to Justice for your crimes, Fire-Shell Bullet."

"Justice? You think you're delivering _justice_ with this shit?" Shego spat. "Fuck, if this is justice, I don't even wanna know what your definition of corruption is."

Kim leveled a diamond-hard glare at the fiery woman before her. The audacity of the Fire-Shell Bullet was unbelievable. "Resisting arrest is the least offensive of your charges. Causing a disturbance, abuse of Alter Power in the 3rd degree, assaulting multiple GJ officers with intent to murder, and participation in the practice of trafficking and enslaving of innocent native normal citizens of The Lost Grounds are all heinous crimes that will not be tolerated by any Grounds Justice agent."

"What? Oh, you did NOT just accuse me of what I think you just accused me of!" snapped Shego, her anger rising exponentially.

"The evidence is not in your favour, native Alter. Give yourself up."

"You wanna hear something, Princess? I've had a horrible, no good, really bad day. First, while minding my own business this morning, I hear from one of the escaped girls you 'freed' yesterday who managed to crawl away from you that her friends, who I'd just been in the process of rescuing from those arrogant Oh Boyz fucks until you bastards showed up, were going right back to being slaves for the GJ agents who had taken over her village – THIS village. She says she'll pay me to free this place, and I agree and then when I get here, I see your fellow 'colleagues' beating a weak old man to a pulp, all because he asked for some water. And NOW, not only am I not gonna get my pay for doing this job because she disappeared with that casket-carrying bastard, you guys show up and accuse me of crimes I didn't commit? I don't know what balls you think you have, you redheaded little snatch, but I'm pissed enough to rip them off, so bring it on, cocksucker."

"Your stubborn pride will be your downfall, native," Kim replied as she summoned her Alter.

"Hey, I may be stubborn, but at least my stubbornness didn't come out of being brainwashed. I'll bet you didn't even know GJ was pulling this shit here, did you?"

Shego couldn't even react to the speed and efficiency with which Kim moved. All she knew was she was lying on her back in a pile of rubble, and her head was swirling. "Ow. Fuck – that was a first, Cupcake. You attacking me. Fast moving, you little minx. Now taste my Blazing Second BULLET!"

Her arm aglow in green fire again, Shego shot forward and careened into the shield made by the 4 spheres of Kim's Alter and grinned as sparks flew upon the impact. Which meant only one thing, the GJ bitch's Alter had absorbed the brunt of the impact. That, or…"Gee, sweetie, you must be so pissed you can't concentrate on keeping your Alter in top shape. I wouldn't happen to have made you very, very angry by inflicting all that pain upon your fellow GJ officers?" she sneered.

Sure enough, Kim's eyes snapped into fury and she attacked the Fire-Shell Bullet again, only this time, Shego blocked the blow with her plasma-ignited other hand. "Like it, you GJ freak? That's a power I had long before The Lost Grounds became The Lost Grounds. Maybe you heard of Team Go as a kid? I see you've got my brother on your staff. I wonder did his brainwashing take an hour or a minute?"

Kim moved with the same speed and pinpoint accuracy again, and Shego found herself flat on her ass with eight spheres lined up like a sword at her throat. "I would advise you to stop now, native Alter. The more you continue with this rhetoric you are spouting, the more you prolong the length of your eventual sentence."

"Oh, so I can't even _criticize_ you fucks anymore without getting arrested for pissing you all off? Damn. Whatever happened to a system of checks and balances?" Shego grabbed the "sword" with her bare hand, igniting her plasma again to sear together whatever wounds holding the weapon gave her as she started to fight the resistance. "You didn't catch me before. Now get that damned sword OUT OF MY FACE!" she screamed, sending a brutal kick at Kim's hips, which, much to her surprise, connected, sending the GJ officer sprawling. "Hah! Not so powerful as you think, eh, self-righteous jackass? I coulda' blocked that at 2 years old!"

Kim stood up. "Perhaps, but that does not mean I have weakened in any way. You will notice that despite your attack connecting with its target, my Alter remains."

Shego double-checked. _Shit…_The bitch was right. "Well, I beat you at something. Which means I CAN BEAT YOU WHERE IT COUNTS!" Sparks suddenly flew like crazy from the hand clutching the "sword" as Shego increased the intensity of her plasma energy – until Shego felt it bend. "Oh, yes. This works. Now, let's see how you like the medicine I gave your sissy boy Junior earlier! **SOLAR STORM, FINAL _BULLET!"_** Summoning all her willpower, she rocketed forward, bending the "sword" while she felt the redhead's resistance crumble. Finally, with all her might behind her and sparks showering her with what she knew were going to be painful burns later, she managed to bend the "sword" so much, she smashed her Altered hand and the GJ bitch's own weapon into the shield.

And watched time seem to slow down as it broke open wide enough to let her fist through with a loud CRACK.

The jaws of everyone watching dropped.

-----

Gemini, watching the fight unfold from his lair in Go City, raised an eyebrow. "Yes, my silent friend. Very powerful, I agree."

-----

Shego grinned as time seemed to come back to normal, but then a fiery menace shone behind the redhead's eyes and in a flash, Shego was wrenching in pain as the shield snapped back to form, trapping both of her arms behind it. "NO! GODDAMMIT! YOU DON'T GET TO DO THIS!" She wrestled against the shield using every ounce of strength she had left. "DAMMIT! GODDAMMIT! I BEAT YOU! I BROKE YOU! **_WHY WON'T YOU JUST ACCEPT THAT?"_**

Kim sent an icy stare at her. "Because it's called a trap. Agent Rockwaller! Ram the Fire-Shell Bullet! NOW! That is a direct order!"

"YES!" Bonnie cheered, jumping into the driver's seat and gunning the van's engine. "Yes yes yes yes yes yes! Thank you Kim, thank you!"

"DAMMIT! **_DAMMIT!"_** Shego furiously struggled against the shield, but as Kim stepped aside and the shield widened in front of her, and the headlights behind her got brighter and brighter, she realized there was nothing she could do. She stopped struggling. _Shit…Joss, I'm sorry. Keep Drakken eatin' for me, will 'ya?_

She only saw the headlights get brighter for a few more seconds before the impact shattered her Alter from her arm and knocked everything into black.

-----

"_Unit 002 to Dr. Director: We have subdued and apprehended the Fire-Shell Bullet, and safely retrieved our fellow Grounds Justice officers. A medic is requested, as injuries have been sustained. We will return to base as soon as we have them aboard and have securely incarcerated the criminal native Alter."_

"Request for Medic noted, Unit 002. Prepare for debriefing and prisoner transfer upon your arrival." Betty sat back in her chair. _Trusting Bonnie more already…_ She smiled to herself._ Well done, Kim._ _Well done, indeed._

-----

Kim slowly dissipated her Alter, the pain from the destruction of one of her spheres was bordering on unbearable. It would not linger for long, but that was of cold comfort to her. She was thankful her training had prepared her for such an instance, but she was still furious with herself for lying about what had happened. However, what had happened was of no concern to the others. They had no reason to suspect that the untrained, undisciplined native Alter had actually broken through her defenses. That was her problem, and her problem alone. She knew now that she had to seriously re-evaluate her training, in case stronger Alters were out there.

"KP? You okay?" asked Ron, seeing her bent over and wincing.

"Yeah, Kim, you okay?" Josh strode up aside her.

Kim immediately stood straight back up. "I am fine. I thank you both for your concerns. However- " Kim suddenly grabbed Ron, spun him around, forced his hands behind his back, and locked them in a pair of handcuffs.

"Ow!" Ron protested. "Hey, what - KP, what are you-"

"I am ashamed to know that you and Agent Go would ever think that your rather blatant and utterly inexcusable acts of insubordination would be tolerated, Mr. Stoppable. Defying orders is as much a crime as the slavery the native Alter was apprehended for. You are under arrest for the violation of Grounds Justice Directive #479.-8B.13-C4. Tara, as you are standing closest to him, please apprehend Agent Go, for violating Grounds Justice Directive #125.03-6Y.2-A12."

Tara turned around and put Mego up against the side of the scouter. She sighed, but said nothing as she locked the cuffs. Mego knew an order when he heard one.

"Agent Mankey, you and Yori get the wounded officers onboard the scouter. I will drive them back." The two nodded as Kim authoritatively stormed past them. "Tara, you and Bonnie secure the prisoners. Take Mr. Stoppable and Agent Go to Dr. Director when you return – she and Agent Jones wish to talk with them."

Ron gulped as the other agents nodded. Mego said nothing as they were put in the van's temporary holding cell, with the unconscious Fire-Shell Bullet beside them.

------

The tiny house was empty, the evening sun that spilled into the room through the window disappearing, fading into moonlight in silence as the door opened.

"…Shego?"


End file.
